!^;t:i-''!*i!|!';;i 



^0 O^ 



A 






\^ 






■/■ '" 



.^ '^ 









, "■ ^^"^' 






\ ■ ^ 




,v 




> <<^' 


t , 


■^^. 


/\' 

»'^' 

■i,* 




y\ 


: V 


.^^^' 


■^/>, 




v<' 


%>'. *' 


'^1 






- ^.^;o\\ 




'<o ' 






•-^^ * * \\ 


, 1 


•/' 




'■■\ 


. ^^ ^.# 




o. 




^. 


\ '^^ <^ ^:^. 













-.,%'"■ -0*' 






,^^' -^P. 



THE GREVILLE MEMOIRS. 



A JOURNAL OF THE REIGNS OF KING GEORGE 
IV. AND KING WILLIAM IV. By the Late 
Charles C. F. Gkeville, Esq., Clerk of the Coiineil 
to those Sovereigns. Two vols., 12mo. Cloth, $4.00. 

A JOURNAL OF THE REIGN OF QUEEN VIC- 
TORIA, FROM 1837 TO 1852. The " Greville 
Memoirs," Second Part. By the Late Charles C. 
F. Greville, Clerk of the Council. Two vols., 
12mo. Cloth, 14.00. 



D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, Pijblisheks. 



The Greyille Memoirs 

{THIRD AND CONCLUDING FART) 



A JOUMAL OF THE REIGN 

OF 

QUEEN VICTORIA 

EROM 1852 TO 1860 

^ ^ BY THE LATE 

CHARLES C. F. GREVILLE, Esq. 



CLERK OF THE COUNCIL 



EDITED BY 

HENRY REEVE 

REGISTEAB OF THE PEITY COUNCIL 



NEW YORK 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1887 






^Ttai 



mf^ 



i^AR 



8 t9«S 



P E E F A C E 

OF THE EDITOR 

TO THE THIRD PART OF THIS JOURNAL. 



It appears to be unnecessary and inexpedient to delay the publi- 
cation of the last portion of these papers, which contain some record 
of the events occurring between the year 1852 and the close of the 
year 1860, a period already remote from the present time, and relat- 
ing almost exclusively to men of the last generation. I have little to 
add to the notices prefixed by me to the two preceding portions of 
this work, but I am grateful for the length of days which has enabled 
me to complete the task confided to me by Mr. Greville three and 
twenty years ago, and to leave behind me a record of that delightful 
company to wbich I was bound by the closest ties of intimacy and 
friendship. On looking back upon the first half of the present cen- 
tury, I believe that we were too unconscious of the exceptional privi- 
leges we enjoyed, and that we did not sufficiently appreciate the re- 
markable gifts of the statesmen, the orators, the historians, the poets, 
and the wits who shed an incomparable lustre on the politics, the 
literature, and the social intercourse of those years. Of these per- 
sonages some traces are to be found in the preceding volumes and in 
these pages. 

Nor am T less grateful for the reception this publication has met 
with from the world, which has far surpassed the modest expecta- 
tions of tlie author, and has at last conveyed to the reader a just esti- 
mate of the integrity and ability with which these Journals were 
written. They bear evident marks of the changes which are wrought 
in a man's character and judgments by the experience of life and the 
course of years ; and they fall naturally into the three periods or di- 
visions of Mr. Greville's life which I was led from other causes to 
adopt. In the first part he appears as a man of fashion and of pleas- 
ure, plunged, as was not inconsistent with his age and his social posi- 
tion, in the dissipation and the amusements of the day; but he was 
beginning to get tired of them. In the second part he enters with all 
the energy of which he was capable, tiiough shackled by his official 
position, upon the great political struggles of the time — the earnest 
advocate of peace, of moderation, of justice, and of liberal principles 
— regarding with a discriminating eye and with some severity of 



Iy preface, 

judgment the actions of men swayed by motives ot ambition and 
vanity, from which he was himself free. This was the most active 
period of his life. But years advanced, and with age the infii-mities 
from which he had always suffered withdrew him more and more 
from society, and deprived him of many of those sources of intelli- 
gence which had been so freely opened to him. Hence it is possible 
that the volumes now published contain less of novelty and original 
information than the preceding portions of the work. But, on the 
other hand, the events recorded in them are of a more momentous 
character — the re-establishment of the French Empire, the Imperial 
Court, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, and the Italian War are 
more interesting than the rise or fall of a Ministry ; and it is curious 
to note precisely the effect produced at the time on the mind of a 
contemporary observer. No one was more conscious of the incom- 
pleteness of these Journals, and of a certain roughness, due to the 
impromptu character of a manuscript hastily written down, and 
rarely corrected, than the author of them. He was more disposed to 
underrate their merit, as appears from his concluding remarks, than 
to exaggerate their importance. But the public have judged of them 
more favorably; and if he entertained a hope that he might contrib- 
ute some pages to the record of his times and the literature of his 
country, that hope was not altogether vain. 

HENRY EEEVE. 
January^ 1887. 



c o ]:^ T E :n" T s . 



CHAPTER I. 

Divisions of the Liberal Party — Lord Lansdowne as Head of a Liberal Government — 
Hostility of the Radicals — National Defences — Lord John Russell's Literary Pursuits 
— The Queen's Speech — The Peelites — Protection abandoned — Duke of Wellington's 
Funeral— Mr. Villiers' Motion — Disraeli's Panegyric on Wellington — Death of Aliss 
Berry — The Division on the Resolution — Disraeli's Budget — Lord Palmerston's Posi- 
tion — The Division on the Budget— Lord Derby resigns — Liberal Negotiations — For- 
mation of Lord Aberdeen's Government — Lord St. Leonard's— Tone oif the Conserva- 
tives — Lord Clanricarde and the Irish Brigade— Violence of the Tories — Lord Palmer- 
8ton agrees to join the Government— The Aberdeen Cabinet— First Appearance of the 
New Ministry — Irritation of the Whigs page 1 

CHAPTER II. 

A Royal Commission on Reform — M. de Flahault on the Emperor Napoleon — Lord John's 
Blunder — Disraeli's Negotiation with the Irish Members — Lord Beauvale's Death — 
Lady Beauvale's Grief — Napoleon III. and Mdlle.de Montijo — Parliament meets — The 
Emperor's Marriage— Disraeli's Attack on Sir C. Wood — Dislike of Mr. Disraeli — 
Lord John Russell ieaves the Foreign Office— Lord Stanley's Liberal Votes — Disraeli's 
Opinion of his Colleagues — The Government in Smooth Water — England unpopular 
abroad — Massimo d'Azeglio — The Austrians in Italy — The Bishop of Lincoln — The 
Duke of Bedford's Papers — Lord Palnierston leads the House — Social Amenities — 
Rancor of Northern Powers against England — Friendly Resolution of the Emperor 
Napoleon III. — Difficulties at Home— The India Bill — The Eastern Question — The 
Czar's Proposals — Russian Assurances — The Royal Family . . . . p. 26 

CHAPTER III. 

Weakness of the Government— Gladstone's Budget — A Conversation with Disraeli — Sui- 
cidal Conduct of the Tories— Their Irritation — A Charge against Mr. Gladstone de- 
feated — The Stafford Committee — Harmony of the Government — Electoral Corruption 
— Impending War — Success of the Government — Macaulay's Speech on the Judges' 
Exclusion Bill — Erroneous Predictions from Paris — Unsettled Policy as to the War — 
Lord John's Anti-Catholic Speech — The English and French Fleets sail for the Darda- 
nelles — Conduct of Austria — Russia means War — Attacks by the Opposition — Ex- 
planations desired — Attempted Mediation — Lord Aberdeen's Confidence shaken — 
Divisions of Opinion — Terms of Accommodation — Lord Palmerston's Views — Prospect 
of Peace — Division in the Lords on the Succession Duties Bill — Friendly Relations of 
Lord Palmcrston and Lord Claren don — Fears of War— Hopes of Peace — Lord Palnier- 
ston and Mr. Cobden — Rejection of the Vienna Note — Lord Palmerston courted by the 
Tories— Lord John Russell's Position — The Duke of Bedford's Part in the last Crisis — 
Dangers at Constantinople — Lord Stratford's Influence — Suspected Intrigue of France 
with Russia — Lord Palmerston goes to Balmoral— Sir James Graham's View — Lord 
Stratford's Conduct — Importance of the Vienna Note — A Cabinet summoned. p. 50 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Conference at Olmutz— The Turks declare War— Lord Palmerston's Views— Lord 
Palmerston lauded by the Radicals and the Tories— Failure of the Pacific Policy- 
Lord Aberdeen desires to resign — Lord John to be Prime Minister — Obstacles to Lord 



vi CONTENTS. 

John's Pretensions— Danger of breaking up the Government -Lord John's Wilfulness 
and Unpopularity— Alhance of the Northern Powers defeated by Manteuflfel— Conflict 
of the two Policies— Meeting of i'arliament discussed— French Kefugees in Belgium — 
Generel Paraguay d'Hilliers sent to Constantinople- Mr. Pieeve returns from the East 
—Lord John's Eeform Bill— The Emperor of Kussia writes to the Queen— Sir James 
Graham's Views on Reform, etc.— Opponents of the Eeform Scheme— Abortive At- 
tempts at Negotiation— The Four Powers agree to a Protocol— Lord Palmcrston 
threatens to secede— Lord Palmerston resigns on the Reform Scheme— Lord Palmer- 
ston opposed to Eeform— Effects of Lord Palmerston's Eesignation— Conciliatory- 
Overtures— Lord Lansdowne's Position — Lord Aberdeen's Account — Lady Palmer- 
ston makes up the Dispute— Lord Palmerston withdraws his Eesignation— Baraguay 
d'Hilliers refuses to enter the BlackSea— War resolved on— Keview of the Transac- 
tion PAGE 79 

CHAPTER V. 

Lord Palmerston's Eeturn— The Czar's Designs— Uncertain Prospects— A Dinner of Law- 
yers— Pi-eparations for War — The Keform Scheme modified— Eussian Preparations 
for War — h^ntryof the Black Sea — Intrigues of France with Eussia — Attacks on Prince 
Albert — Virulence of the Press — Attitude of Eussia — Eeluctance on Both sides to en- 
gage in War — Prince Albert's Participation in Affairs of State — Opening of Parhament 
— Vindication of Prince Albert — O&er of Marriage of Prince Napoleon to Princess 
Mary of Cambridge — Publication of the Queen's Speech — The Hesitation of Austria — 
A Justification of the AVar— The Blue Books— Popularity of the War — Last Efforts for 
I Peace— The Emperor Napoleon's Letter — Lord John's Eeform Bill — DiflSculties aris- 
/ iag — The Greeks — Objections to the Eeform Bill — Postponement of the Eeform 
I BUI P. 104 

CHAPTER VI. 

Dinner to Sir Charles Napier — A Ministerial Indiscretion — Doubts as to the Eeform Bill — 
Discontent of Lord John Eussell — The Secret Correspondence with Eussia— War de- 
clared — Weakness of the Government — Mr. Greville disapproves the War — Divisions 
in the Cabinet— Withdrawal of the Eeform Bill — Blunder of the Government— The 
Fast Day —Licenses to trade in War — Death of the Marquis of Anglesey — Mr. Glad- 
stone's Financial Failures — Dissolution of Parties— Mr. Gladstone's Budget — Lord 
Cowley's Opinion of the Emperor's Position — The House of Commons supports the 
War— Disraeli attacks Lord John Eussell — A Change of Plans— Lord John Eussell's 
Mismanagement — Attacks on Lord Aberdeen — Popularity of the War — Government 
Majority in the Lords — Attitude of the German I'oweri — A Meeting of the Liberal 
Party — An Appointment cancelled — Expedition to the Crimea — English and French 
Policy united in Spain — Close of the Session -The Character of Lord Aberdeen's Gov- 
ernment — Effect of the Quarrel with Eussia — Lord Palmtrston's Eesignation — Way- 
wardness of the House of Commons p. 1^5 

CHAPTER VII. 

Difficulties of the Campaign — Prince Albert and the King of Prussia — The Prince goes to 
France— Military Commanders— Critical Eelations of the Ministers — The Crimea— The 
Emperor Napoleon and Prince Albert — Austria and the Allies — The Landing in the 
Crimea —The Battle of the Alma — Royal Invitations — The Crimean Expedition — Lord 
John's HostiUty to his Colleagues— False Eeport from Sebastopol — The Crimean Cam- 
paign — Anecdotes of Lord Eaglan— The Eussian Defence — Trade with the Enemy — 
Anecdote of Nesselrode— John Bright's Opinion of the War— Defence of Sebastopol — 
The Balaklava Charge— The Judges at the Nomination of Sheriffs— Lord John takes 
more moderate Views — The Battle of Inkerman— Impolicy of the War— Inkerman— 
Spirit of the Nation— Military Enthusiasm — Parliament summoned — Want of Fore- 
sight—Accounts of the Battle— Lord Eaglan as a General— Sufferings of the Army — 
Agreement with Austria— Opponents of the War— Meeting of Parliament— The Gov- 
ernment attacked— The Foreign Enlistment Bill— Foreign Enlistment Bill passed — Mr. 
Bright's Speech on the War- Review of the Year p. 157 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Lord John's Views on the Ministry— Gloomy Prospects— Attacks on Lord Eaglan— Eus- 
sian and Prussian Diplomacy— Lord Palmerston more in favor— French View of the 
British Army— Eussian Negotiations— Lord John Eussell In Paris— Conference at 



CONTENTS. vii 

Vienna — Lord Raglan unmoved— Terms proposed to Eussia— Failure of the Duke of 
Newcastle — Hesitation of Austria and France — Deplorable btate of the Armies — 
Chances of Peace — Meeting of Parliament — Further Negotiations — Lord John Kussell 
resigns — Ministers stay in — The Debate on Eoebuck's Motion — Kesignation of Lord 
Aberdeen— Lord JohnEusseirs real Motives — Lord Derby sent for — and fails — Wise 
Decision of the Queen — Ministerial Negotiations — Lord Palmerston sent for — ThePeel- 
ites refuse to join — Lord Palmerston forms a Government — Lord Palraerston's Pros- 
pects — Lord John Eussell sent to Vienna — Lord Palmerston in the House of Com- 
mons—General Alarm — DiflScuities of Lord Palmerston — The Peelites secede— Lord 
John accepts the Colonial Office — Sir George Lewis Chancellor of the Exchequer — 
Death of the Emperor Nicholas of Russia — Lord Palmerston supposed to be a weak 
Debater — Weakness of the Government — Fresh Arrangements — The Budget — The 
Press FAGE lb8 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Vienna Conference — Literary Occupations — A Roman Catholic Privy Councillor — Ne- 
gotiations at Vienna — The Emperor Napoleon in London — The Emperor's brilliant 
Reception — Russia refuses the Terms offered — The Sebastopol Committee — Debate on 
the War — Visit to Paris — Resignation of M. Drouyn de Lhuys — The Emperor's Jour- 
ney to the Crimea — The Repulse at the Redan — Visit to Thiers — A Dinner at the 
Tuileries — Conversation with the Emperor — M. Guizot on the War — Death of Lord 
Raglan — A Dinner at Princess Lieven's — The Palace of Versailles — Revelations of 
Lord John Russell's Mission — Dinner with the Emperor at Villeneuve I'Etang — 
Lord John Russell's Conduct at Vienna — Excitement in London — Lord John's Resig- 
nation — Lord John's Conduct explained—" Whom shall we Hang? " — Prorogation of 
Parliament p. 219 

CHAPTER X. 

The Queen's Visit to France — Sir George C. Lewis on the War — Inefficiency of Lord 
Panmure — The Queen and the Emperor — Lord John Russell's Estrangement from 
his Friends— The Fall of Sebastopol — The Queen on the Orleans Confiscation — The 
Prince Regent's I>etter on the Holy Alliance — Ferment in Italy — The Failure at the 
Redan — Lord John's Defence— General Windham — Lord John Russell's Retirement — 
Death of Sir Robert Adair — Adieu to the Turf-Progress of the War— Colonial Office 
proposed to Lord Stanley — Lord John liussell's Position — Relations with Mr. Disraeli 
— Air. Labouchere Colonial Secretary — Negotiations for Peace — The Terms proposed 
to Russia — The King of Sardinia and M. de Cavour at Windsor — The Demands of the 
King of Sardinia — Lord Palmer.ston presses for War— Lord Macaulay's History of 
England — An Ultimatum to Russia — Death of the Poet Rogers — French Ministers — 
The Emperor's Diplomacy — Sir George C. Lewis's Aversion to the War— Quarrels of 
Walewski and Persigny — Austria presents the Terms to Russia — Baron Seebach me- 
diates — The Emperor's Difficulties and Doubts p. 244 

CHAPTER XI. 

France and Prussia— The Emperor's Speech — Faint Hopes of Peace— Favorable View of 
the Policy of Russia— Progress of the Negotiations— Russia accepts the Terms of 
Peace —The Acceptance explained — Popular Keeling in Favor of the War — Lord Strat- 
ford and General Williams — Mr. Disraeh's Prospcets — Meeting of Parliament — Baron 
Parke's Life Peerage — The Debate on the Address— Debate on Life Peerages — Report 
on the Sufferings of the Army — Strained Relations with France — Lord Clarendon goes 
to the Congress at Paris — Opening of the Conference— Sabbatarianism — Progress of 
the Negotiations — Kars — Nicolaieff — The Life Peerage Question — Blunders and Weak- 
ness of the Government — A Visit to Paris — Count OrlofTs View of the War — Lord 
Cowley on the Negotiations — Princess Eleven on the War — An Evening at the Tuile- 
ries — Opening of the Legislative Chamber — Lord C'owloy's Desponding Views — The 
Austrian Proposals — Bitterness in French Society — Necessity of Peace to France — Con- 
versation with M. Thiers — A Stag Hunt at St. Germains — The Emperor yields to the 
Russians — Birth of the Prince Imperial p. 274 

CHAPTER XII. 

Lord Clareiidon's favorable View of the Peace — General Evans' Proposal to embark after 
the Battle of Inkerman— Sir E. Lyons defends Lord Raglan — Peace concluded — Sir J. 



Yiii CO]^TENTS. 

Graham's gloomy View of Affairs — Edward Ellice's Plan — Favorable Eeception of the 
Peace — A Lull in Politics — A Sabbatarian Question — The Trial of Palmer for Murdw— ^ 
Defeat of the Opposition — Danger of War with the United States — Kistori as an 
Actress — Defeat of the Appellate .lurisdiction Bill — Return of the Guards — Baron 
Parke on the Life Peerage— Close of the Session — O'Donnell and Espartero in Spain — 
Chances of War — Coronation of the Czar— Apathy of the Nation— Expense of the Coro- 
nation at Moscow — Interference at Naples— Foreign Kelations — Progress of Democ- 
racy in England — Russia, France, England, and Naples — Russian Intrigues with France 
— The Bolgrad Question — The Quan-el with Naples — The Formation of Lord Palmer- 
ston's Government in 1855 — Death of Sir John Jervis — Sir Alexander Cockburn's Ap- 
pointment — James Wortley Solicitor-General — Conference on the Treaty of Paris — 
Low Church Bishops — Leadership of the Opposition — Coolness in Paris — Dictatorial 
Policy to Brazil • page 803 

CHAPTER XIII. 

State of England after the War — Prussia and Neufchatel — Sir Robert Peel's Account of 
■^ the Russian Coronation — An Historical Puzzle — The Death of Princess Lieven — ^Mr. 
Spurgeon's Preaching — Mr. Gladstone in Opposition — Tit for Tat — Difficult Relations 
with France — Lord John in Opposition — The Liddell v. Westerton Case — Death of 
Lord EUesmere — Violent Opposition to the Government on the China Question — 
Languid Defence of the Government — Impending Dissolution — Popularity of Lord 
Palmerston — Despotism of Ministers— ParUament dissolved — Judgment on Liddell v. 
Westerton — Lord Palmerston"s Address — The Elections — Defeat of the Manchester 
Leaders — Fear of Radical Tendencies — The Country approves the Chinese Policy — 
Death of Lady Keith p. 335 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Eesults of the Elections — Defeat of Oobden and Bright— The War with China — Death of 
Lady Ashburton — Lord Palmerston's Success — The Handel Concerts — M. Fould in 
London— The Queen and Lord Palmerston — The Indian Mutiny— The Prince Consort 
— ^Death of General Anson — The State of India — Royal Guests — The Government of 
India — Temper of the House of Commons — Debates on India — Royal Visits— The 
Divorce Bill — The Divorce Bill in the House of Lords — Close of the Session — A Duke- 
dom offered to Lord Lansdowne — Death of Mr. Croker— History of the Life Peerages 
— The Indian Mutiny and the Russian War — The Struggle in India — Eeinforcenients 
for India — The Queen's Attention to Public Business — Attacks on Lord Canning — Big 
Ships and Big Bells — Lord Canning defended — Courteous Behavior of Foreign Nations 
— The Capture of Delhi and Lucknow — Difficulties in India — Depression in the City — 
Speculations on the Contingency of a Change of Government— The East India Com- 
pany and the Government — Exaggerated Reports from India — A Queen's Speech — 
The Bank Charter Act p. 363 

CHAPTER XV. 

Opening of the Session — Prevailing Distress — Lord John reconciled^Ministerial Specula- 
tions — Contemplated Transfer of India to the Crown — Military Position in India — Con- 
versation with Mr. Disraeli — Bill for the Dissolution of the East India Company — Diffi- 
culties of Parliamentary Reform — The Relief of Lucknow — Lord Normanby"s " Year of 
Revolution " — Brougham's Jealousy of Lord Cockburn — Refutation of Lord Norman- 
by's Book — The Crown Jewels of Hanover — Labor in the French Colonies — The Death 
of General Havelock — Gloomy Prospects in India — Inadequate Measures for the Relief 
of India — Lord John Russell hostile to Government — Death of the Duke of Devonshire 
— Mr. Disraeli suggests a Fusion of Parties^Marriage of the Princess Royal — Weakness 
of the Government — Excitement in France asainst this Coimtry — Petition of the East 
India Company — Drowsiness of Ministers — Decline of Lord Palmerston's Popularity — 
Effect of the Orsini Attempt on the Emperor Napoleon — Opposition to the Conspiracy 
Bill — Review of the Crisis — Lord Derby sent for by the Queen— Refusal of the Peel- 
ites — The Catastrophe unexpected — The Defeat might have been avoided — Misman- 
agement of the Affair— Ministers determined to resign p. 393 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Second Derby Administration — Lord Derby's first Speech — Lord Clanriearde defends 
himself — The New Minis^ — Coincidences — Lord Derby's favorable Position — Opinion 
of the Speaker— Lord Derby's liberal Declarations — ^Dinner to Mr. Buckle — Instability 



CONTENTS. ix 

of the Governruent — Mr. Disraeli's sanguine Views — India — Prospects of the new 
Government — A Visit to the Due d'Aumalo — Dejicate Relations with France— Lord 
John Russell and Lord Palinerston— Irritation of the Whigs— Marshal Pehssier Am- 
bassador in London — The PeeUtes and the Wnig-s— Failure of the India Bill— An Over- 
ture from Lord John Russell— Dissensions of the Whigs — Lord Derby resolves to 
remain in Otiice — Lord John Russell proposes to deal with the India Bill by Resolu- 
tions — Mistake of the Whigs in resigning on the Conspiracy Bill — Withdrawal of the 
India Bill — Policy of the Whigs in Opposition — Lord Cowley on the Relations of Franco 
and England— Strong Oiipositioii to th<^ Government — Lord Derby on the 8tate of 
Atfairs —Disunion of the Whigs — Lord (.^armings Proclamation — Littlocote House — 
Vehemence of the Opposition— Lord Lyndhurst displeased — Debates on the Indian 
Proclamation^Collapse of the Debates— Triumph of the Ministry — Disraeli's violent 
Speech at Slough — Lord Palmerston's Discomfiture — Prospects of a Fusion — Success 
of the Government — Concessions to the Radicals — The Queen's Visit to Birmingham 
— Progress of the India Bill — The Jew Bill — The Jew Bill passed — Disturbed State of 
India — Baron Brunnow on the Russian War page 421 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Lord John Russell and Lord Stanley — Lord Palmerston's Leadership — Dissensions In the 
Liberal Party — The Queen and her Ministers — Lord Stanley at the India OfBce — The 
Queen's Letter to the Prince of Wales — Reform Speeches and Projects — Lord Palm- 
erston's Confidence — Prosecution of Count Montalembert in France- Lord Clar- 
endon's Visit to Compi^gne — The Emperor's Designs on Italy — The Emperor and the 
Pope — Approach of War — Lord Palmerston's Prudent Language — Lord Palmerston's 
Italian Sympathies — The Electric Telegraph — Opposition in France to the War — The 
Emperor's Prevarication— Opening of Parliament — Debates on Foreign Affairs— Lord 
Cowley's Mission to Vienna— General Opposition to the War — A Keform Bill— Mr. 
Walpole and Mr. Henley resign — DupHeity of the Emperor — Mr. Disraeli's Reform Bill 
— The Emperor denies his Warlike Preparations— The Whigs oppose the Retbvm rlill — 
Anxiety to defeat the Government — Lord Cowley returns from Vienna — War impend- 
ing — Dishonest Conduct by both Parties — Lord Cowley's Account of Cavour's I'olicy 
— His Mission to Vienna — A Congress Proposed — Indifference to Reform — Debates on 
the Reform Bill — Defeat of the Reform Bill — An Emissary from Cavour. . p. 453 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Government determine to dissolve the Parliament — Apathy of the Country — Hopes and 
Fears as to the War — The Congress a Trick — Disraeli on the approaching Elections- 
War Declared — Mr. Greville resigns the Clerkship of the Council — Result of the Elec- 
tion.s — Mistakes of the Austrian Government— Policy of the Opposition — Reconcilia- 
tion of Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell— The Reconciliation doubtful— Meet- 
ing of the Liberal Party — Resolution of the Meeting — Debate on the Resolution of 
Want of Confidence— Defeat of Ministers— Lord Derby resigns — Lord Granville sent 
for by the Queen — Lord Granville does not form a Government — Lord Palmerston 
sent for — Lord P.almerston's Second Administration — The Queen confers the (Jarter 
on Lord Derby — Successful Progress of the French in Italy — Causes of Lord Gran- 
ville's Failure — Lord -John claims the Foreign Office— Lord Clarendon decUnes to take 
Oflice — Lord Clarendon's Interview with the Queen — Mr. Cobden dechnes to take Office 
— The Armistice of Villafr.anca- Peace Concluded — The Terms of Peace— Position of 
the Pope — Disappointment of Italy — Conference of the Emperors — Alleged Sensitive- 
ness of the Emperor Napoleon — Details of the War— A Visit to Ireland— Irish National 
Education — DubUn — Howth Castle — Waterford — Killarney— Return from Ireland — 
Numerous Cabinets — A Dispute with China — Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell 
—Lord Clarendon at Osborne — Spain and Morocco — The Due d'Aumale — Perplexity 
of the Emperor Napoleon— The Emperor Napoleon and the " Times." . . p. 4S1 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Prospects of the Government and of the Opposition — Mr. Disr.aeli's commanding Pos'tion 
— Preparation of a Reform Bill — A Congress — Death of M.acaulay — The Affairs of Italy 
— Policy of the Emperor Napoleon — The Cominercial Treaty with France— M. de 
Cavour resumes Office— Opening of Parliament — Negotiation of the Commercial Treaty 
—The Emperor a Free Trader— Perplexity of Italian Affairs — Moderation of Lord 
Derby — Opposition to the ('ommercial Treaty — The Reform Bill of 1860 — Tory Oppo- 
sition to Reform — Mr. Gladstone's great Budget Speech — Opposition to the Treaty 
and the Budget — Triumph of Mr. Gladstone — The Italian Correspondence — Demo- 



X ■ CONTENTS. 

cratic Opinions of Mr. Gladstone — Introduction of the Eeform Bill — The Annexation 
of Savoy and Nice — Annexation of Tuscany to Piedmont — The Denouement of the 
Plot — Complete Apathy of the Country as to Keform — Lord Derby declines to inter- 
fere — Lord John's adverse Declaration to France — Consequences of Lord John's Speech 
against France — Our Position in Europe — Anecdote of tne Crimean War— Designs of 
the Emperor Napoleon in 1S58 — Loid Palmerston's Distrust of Napoleon 111. — Lord 
John's Inditference to his own Ketoim Bill — Mr. Gladstones Ascendency — Designs of 
the Emperor and Cavour — Unpopularity of the Eeform Bill— Correspondence of Lord 
Grey and Lord John EusseU — Eeaction against Mr. Gladstone's Measures — Opposition 
to the Kepeal of the Paper Duties — Coolness with France — Garibaldi's Expedition — 
Lord Palmerston attacks the Neapolitan Minister— The f aper Duties Bill rejected by 
the Lords — The Eeform Bill withdrawn — ^Lord Palmerston adjusts the Difference be- 
tween the two Houses — Mr. Gladstone supported by the Eadicals — Mr. Senior's Con- 
yersations in Paris — A Letter from the Speaker— Mr. Cobden's Faith in the Emperor 
Napoleon — Conclusion of these Journals fage 511 

Index 547 



A JOUEI^AL 

OF TUB 

REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, 

FEOM 1852 TO 1860. 



CHAPTEE I. 

Divisions of the Libera] Party— Lord Lansdowne as Head of a Liberal Government — 
Uostiiity of the Kadicals— National Defences — Lord Jonn Kussell s Literary Fursuits 
— The Queen's Speecb— The Peelites— I'rotectiun abandoned— Uuke of Wellington's 
Funeral- Mr. Viliiers' Motion— Disraeli's Panegyric on WeUington— Death of Miss 
Berry -The Division on the Resolution^ Disraeli's Budget— Lord Palmerston's Posi- 
tion—The Division on the Budget— Lord Derby resigns — Liberal Negotiations— For- 
mation of Lord Aberdeen's Government— Lord St. Leonard's - Tone of the Conserva- 
tives-Lord Clanricarde and the Irish Biigade -Violence of the 'lories — Lord Palmer- 
ston agrees to join the Government— The Aberdeen Cabinet -i'irst Apjiearance of tho 
New Ministry — Irritation of the Whigs. 

October 22d, 1853. — As iLsiial, a long inlerval, for since 
the Duke's death I hare had nothing to write about. The 
distribution of his offices and honors has not given satisfac- 
tion. The appointment of Fitzroy Somerset would have 
been more popular than that of Hardinge to the command 
of the army, especially with the army ; but I have no doubt 
the Court insisted on having Hardinge, who is a great favor- 
ite there. 

Matters in politics remain much as they were. There 
has been a constant interchange of letters between Lord John 
Russell and his leading friends and adherents, and conversa- 
tions and correspondence between these and Palmerston, the 
result of the whole being a hopeless state of discord and dis- 
agreement in the Liberal party, so complete that there ap- 
pears no possibility of all tlie scattered elements of opposition 
being combined into harmonious action, the consequence of 
which can hardly fail to be the continuance in office of the 
present Government. The state of things may be thus 
1 



2 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

siinimed up : Lord John Russell declares he will take no 
office but that of Premier, considering any other a degrada- 
tion ; but he says he does not want office, and if a Liberal 
Government can be formed under anybody else he will give 
it his best support. He resents greatly the expressed senti- 
ments of those who would put him by and choose another 
Prime Minister, and this resentment his belongings foster as 
much as they can. Palmerston professes personal regard for 
Lord John, but declares he will never again serve under him, 
though he would with him, and his great object has been to 
induce Lord Lansdowne to consent to put liimself at the 
head of a Government (if this falls) under whom he would 
be willing to serve, and he would consent to Lord John's 
leading tlie House of Commons as heretofore. Thishe com- 
municated to the Duke of Bedford in conversation at Brocket, 
and he afterward wrote a detailed account of that conversa- 
tion to Lansdowne himself, which was an invitation to him 
to act the part he wished to allot to him. Lord Lansdowne 
wrote him an answer in which he positively declined to put 
himself at the head of a Government, stating various reasons 
why he could not, and his conviction that John Russell was 
the only man who could be at the head of one hereafter. 
With regard to other opinions, Graham is heart and soul 
with Lord John, and decidedly in favor of his supremacy. 
The Whig party are divided, some still adhering to him; 
others, resenting his conduct in the past Session and dis- 
trusting his prudence, are anxious for another chief, but 
without having much considered how another is to be found, 
nor the consequences of deposing him. The Radicals are in 
an unsettled and undecided state, neither entirely favorable 
nor entirely hostile to Lord John ; the Peelites are pretty 
unanimously against him, and not overmuch disposed to join 
with the Whig party, being still more or less deluded with 
the hope and belief that they may form a Government them- 
selves. Graham has always maintained (and, as I thought, 
with great probability) that it would end in Palmerston's 
joining Derby, and at this moment such an arrangement 
seems exceedingly likely to happen. There were two or 
three articles not long ago in the " Morning Post" (his own 
paper), which tended that way. I have just been for two 
days to Broadlands, where I had a good deal of talk with 
him and with Lady Palmerston, and I came away with the 
conviction that it would end in his joining this Government. 



1852.] MINISTERIAL COMBINATIONS. 3 

He admitted it to be a possible contingency, but said he could 
not come in alone, and only in the event of a remodelling of 
the Cabinet and a sweep of many of the incapables now in it. 
Sidney Herbert, who was there, told me he had talked to 
him in the same tone, and spoke of eight seats being vacated 
in the Cabinet, and as if he expected tliat nobody should cer- 
tainly remain there but Derby, Disraeli, and the Chancellor. 
It is evident from this that it depends on Derby himself to 
have him, and if he frames measures and announces princi- 
ples such as would enable Palmerston with credit and con- 
sistency to join him, and if he will throw over a sutticient 
number of his present crew, he may so strengthen his Gov- 
ernment as to make it secure for some time. It may, how- 
ever, be a matter of considerable difKculty to turn out a great 
many colleagues, and not less so for Palmerston to find peo- 
ple to bring m with him ; for though he is very popular, and 
can excite any amount of cheering in the House of Commons, 
he has no political adherents whatever, and if Derby was to 
place seats in the Cabinet at his disposal he has nobody to- 
put into them, unless he could prevail on Gladstone and 
Herbert to go with him, which does not seem probable.^ 

November Sd. — Since writing the above, circumstances 
have occurred which may have an important influence on 
future political events. John Eussell, whether moved by 
his own reflections or the advice or opinions of others I know 
not, has entirely changed his mind and become more rea- 
sonable, moderate, and pliable than he has hitherto shown 
himself. He has announced that if it should hereafter be 
found practicable to form a Liberal Government under Lord 
Lansdowne, he will not object to serve under him, only re- 
serving to himself to judge of the expediency of attempting 
such an arrangement, as well as of the Government that 
may be formed. The letter in which he announced this to 
Lord Lansdowne was certainly very creditable to him, and 
evinced great magnanimity. He desired that it might be 
made known to Palmerston, which was done by Lord Lans- 
downe, and Palmerston replied with great satisfaction, say- 
ing, "for the first time he now saw daylight in public 
affairs." Lord Lansdowne was himself gratified at Lord 
John's conduct to him, but he said that it would expose him 
to fresh importunities on the part of Palmei'ston, and he 

> [A list of the members of Lord Derby's Administration will be found in 
the seeoad volume of the Second Part of this Journal, p. 547.] 



4 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [CnAt. I. 

seems by no means more disposed than be was before to 
take the burden on himself, while he is conscious that it 
will be more difficult for him to refuse. He has been suf- 
fering very much, and is certainly physically unequal to 
the task, and le cas ecMant he will no doubt try to make his 
escape ; but, from what I hear of him, I do not think he will 
be inexorable if it is made clear to him that there is no other 
way of forming a Liberal Government, and especially if Lord 
John himself urges him to undertake it. 

The other important matter is a correspondence, or rather 
a letter from Cobden to a friend of his, in which he expresses 
himself in very hostile terms toward John Eussell and 
Graham likewise, abuses the Whig Government, and an- 
nounces his determination to fight for Radical measures, 
and especially the Ballot. This letter was sent to Lord 
Yarborough, by him to the Duke of Bedford, and by the 
Duke to Lord John. He wrote a reply, or, more properly, 
a comment on it, which was intended to be, and I conclude 
was, sent to Cobden ; a very good letter, I am told, in which 
he vindicated his own Government, and declared his un- 
alterable resolution to oppose the Ballot, which he said was 
with him a question of principle, on which he never would 
give way. The result of all this is a complete separation 
between Lord John and Cobden, and therefore between the 
Whigs and the Radicals. What the ultimate consequences 
of this may be it is difficult to foresee, but the immediate one 
will probably be the continuation of Derby in office. Lord 
John is going to have a parliamentary dinner before the 
meeting, which many of his friends think he had better 
have left alone. He wrote to Graham and invited him to it. 
Graham declined, and said he should not come up to the 
meeting. To this Lord John responded that he might do as 
he pleased about dining, but he assured him that his absence 
at the opening of the Session would give great umbrage to 
the party and be injurious to himself. Graham replied that 
he would come up, but he has expressed to some of his cor- 
respondents his disapproval of the dinner. Charles Villiers 
agrees with him about it, and so do I, but the Johnians are 
very indignant with Graham, and consider his conduct very 
base, though I do not exactly see why. 

The question of national defence occupies everybody's 
mind, but it seems very doubtful if any important measures 
will be taken. The Chancellor told Senior that the Govern- 



1582.] NATIONAL DEFENCES. 5 

meet were quite satisfied with Louis Napoleon's pacific as- 
surances, and saw no danger. It is not clear that John 
Eussell partakes of the general alarm, and whether he will 
be disposed (as many wish that he should) to convey to Lord 
Derby an intimation that he will support any measure he 
may propose for the defence of the countr}^, nor is it certain 
that Derby would feel any reliance on such assurances, after 
what passed when he came into office. On that occasion 
Derby called on Lord John (who had just advised the Queen 
to send for him) and said, on leaving him, "I suppose you 
are not going to att ick me and turn me out again," which 
Lord John assured him he had no thoughts of, and directly 
after he convoked his Chesham Place meeting, which was 
certainly not very consistent with his j^revious conduct, nor 
with his engagement to Derby. 

London, i\ovember 11th. 1853. — I passed two days at The 
Grove with John Russell the end of last and beginning of 
this week, when he was in excellent health and spirits, and 
in a very reasonable composed state of mind. There were 
Wilson, Panizzi, George Lewis, and the Duke of Bedford ; 
very little talk about politics, except in a general way. Lord 
John has been engaged in literary pursuits, as the executor 
of Moore and the depositary of Fox's papers, and he is about 
to bring out two volumes of Moore and one of Fox, but in 
neither is there to be much of his own composition ; he has 
merely arranged the materials in each. 

There has been great curiosity about the Queen's S})coch, 
and a hundred reports of difficulties in composing it, and of 
dissensions in the Cabinet with regard to the manner in 
which the great question should be dealt with. As I know 
nothing cei'tain on the subject, I will spare myself the 
trouble of putting down the rumors, which may turn out 
to be groundless or misrepresented. A great fuss lias been 
made about keeping the Speech secret. They refused to 
communicate it to the newspapers, and strict orders were 
given at the Treasury to allow nobody whatever to see it. 
Dei'by, however, wrote to Lord John that as he had always 
sent it to him, he should do the same, and accordingly Lord 
John received it, and read it at his dinner, but those present 
were bound on honor not to communicate the contents of it. 
Lord John and his friends have been all along determined, 
if possible, to avoid proposing an amendment. 

There was a Peelite gathering at a dinner at Hayward's 



6 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

the day before yesterday, at whicli Gladstone, Sidney Her- 
bert, Newcastle, Francis Charteris, Sir John Young, and 
others were present ; and Hayward told me they were all 
united, resolved to act together, and likewise averse to an 
amendment if possible ; but from the manner in which they 
have dealt with Free Trade, it is very doubtful whether 
Cobdeu at least, if not Gladstone, will not insist on moving 
an amendment. A very few hours will decide this point. ^ 

November IWi. — The question of Protection or Free 
Trade, virtually settled long ago, Avas formally settled last 
night, Derby having announced in terms the most clear and 
unequivocal his final and complete abandonment of Protec- 
tion, and his determination to adhere to, and honestly to 
administer, the present system. His speech was received in 
silence on both sides. There has not yet been time to ascer- 
tain the effect of this announcement on the various parties 
and individuals interested by it. 

November IQth. — I went yesterday to the lying in state of 
the Duke of Wellington ; it was fine and well done, but too 
gaudy and theatrical, though this is unavoidable. Afterward 
to St. Paul's to see it lit up. " The effect was very good, but 
it was like a great rout ; all London was there strolling and 
staring about in the midst of a thousand workmen going on 
with their business all the same, and all the fine ladies ecram- 
bling over vast masses of timber, or ducking to avoid the 
great beams that were constantly sweeping along. These 
public funerals are very disgusting med sententid. On Sat- 
urday several people were killed and wounded at Chelsea ; 
yesterday everything was orderly and well conducted, and I 
heard of no accidents. 

Charles Villiers' motion, after much consultation and 
debate, whether it should be brought on or not, is settled in 
the affirmative, and was concocted by the Peelites at a meet- 
ing at Aberdeen's, Graham present. Nothing could be more 
moderate, so moderate that it appeared next to impossible 
the Government could oppose it. Yesterday morning there 
Avas a Ministerialist meeting in Downing Street, when Derby 
harangued his followers. 

Novprnher 21st. — I saw the Duke's funeral from Devon- 
shire House. Eather a fine sight, and all well done, except 
the car, which was tawdry, cumbrous, and vulgar. It was 

1 [The new Parliament was opened by the Queen in person on November 



1852.] MR. VILLIERS' MOTION. 7 

contrived by a German artist attached to the School of De- 
sign, and under Prince Albert's direction — no proof of his 
good taste. The whole ceremony within St. Paul's and with- 
out went off admirably, and without mistakes, mishaps, or 
accidents ; but as all the newspapers overflow with the de- 
tails. I may very well omit them here. 

Now that this great ceremony is over, we have leisure to 
turn our thoughts to political matters. I have already said 
that Villiers proposed a mild resolution which was drawn up 
bv Graham at Aberdeen's house, and agreed to by the Peelites.^ 
Then came Derby's meeting, where he informed his followers 
that he must reserve to himself entire liberty of dealing with 
Villiers' resolution as he thought best, but if he contested it, 
and was beaten, he should not resign, lie then requested 
tiiat if anyone had any objection to make, or remarks to 
offer, on his proposed course, they would make them then 
and there, and not find fault afterward. They all cheered, 
and nobody said a word ; in fact they were all consenting to 
his abandonment of Protection, many not at all liking it, 
but none recalcitrant. After this meeting there was a recon- 
sideration of Villiers' resolution. Oobden and his friends 
complained that it was too milk and water, and required 
that it should be made stronger. After much discussion 
Villiers consented to alter it, and it was eventually put on 
the table of the House in its present more stringent form. 
Lord John Russell was against tlie alteration, and Gladstone 
and the Peelites still more so ; but Charles Villiers thought 
he could not do otherwise than defer to Cobden, after hav- 
ing prevailed on the latter to consent to no amendment be- 
ing moved on the Address. There is good reason to believe 
that the Government would have swallowed the first resolu- 
tion, but they could not make up their minds to take the 
second ; and accordingly Disraeli annouced an amendment 
in the shape of another resolution, and the battle will be 
fought on the two, Dizzy's just as strongly affirming the 
principle of Free Trade as the other, but it omits the decla- 
ration that the measure of '46 was " wise and just. '^ At this 
moment nobody has the least idea what the division will be, 

1 [On November 23, Mr. Cliarlcs Villiers moved Resolutions in tbe House of 
Commons, declarinjr the adherence of Parliament to the principles of Free Trade 
and approvint? the Repeal of the Corn Laws. Mr. Disraeli moved an amend- 
ment, not directly adverse. But this amendment was withdrawn in favor of 
one more skilfully drawn by Lord Palmerston. On this occasion Lord Palmer- 
ston rendered an essential service to Lord Derby's Government.] 



8 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

nor how many of the most conspicuous men will vote, nor 
what the Government will do if they are beaten. Moderate 
men on the Liberal side regret that the original resolution 
was changed, deprecate the pitched battle, and above all 
dread that the Government may resign if they are beaten, 
which would cause the greatest confusion, nothing being 
ready for forming a government on the Liberal side, and the 
Government would go out with the advantage of saying 
that they were prepared with all sorts of good measures 
which the factious conduct of their opponents would not let 
them produce. Things have not been well managed, and I 
expect the result of all these proceedings will be damaging 
to the Liberal interest, and rather advantageous to Lord 
Derby. 

An incident occurred the other night in the House of 
Commons, which exposed Disraeli to much ridicule and se- 
vere criticism. He pronounced a pompous funeral oration 
on the Duke of Wellington, and the next day the " Globe" 
showed that half of it was taken word for word from a pane- " 
gyric of Thiers on Marshal Gouvion de St. Cyi\ Disraeli 
has been unmercifully pelted ever since, and well deserves it 
for such a piece of folly and bad taste. His excuse is, that 
he was struck by the passage, wrote it down, and, when he 
referred to it recently, forgot what it was, and thought it 
was his own composition. But this poor apology does not 
save him. Derby spoke very well on the same subject a 
few nights after in the House of Lords, complimenting the 
authorities, the people, and foreign nations, particularly 
France. It is creditable to Louis Napoleon to have ordered 
Walewski to attend the funeral.^ 

On Saturday night, about twelve o'clock. Miss Mary Berry 
died after a few weeks' illness, without suffering, and in pos- 
session of her faculties, the machine worn out, for she was in 
her 90th year.^ As she was born nearly a century ago, and was 

1 [Count WalcTvski, theu French Ambassador in London, expressed some 
reluctance to attend the funeral of the conqueror of Napoleon I., upon which 
Baron Brunnow said to him, " If this ceremony were intended to bring the 
Duke to life atrain, I can conceive your reluctance to appear at it ; but as it is 
only to bury him, I don't see you have anything to complain of."] 

2 [Miss Mary Berry was born at Kirkbridge, in Yorkshire, on_March_16, 
1763 ; her sister Acrnes, who was her inseparable companion for eifrhty-eicht 
years, fourteen months later. Her father, Robert Berry, was tlie nephew of a 
Scotch merchant named Fersjuson, who purchased the estate of Eaith, in Fife- 
share. William Berry, the orother of Robert, and uncle of these ladies, suc- 
ceeded to this property, and took the name of Ferguson. The Miss Berrj's first 
made the acquaintance of Horace Walpole in 1788, when he was seventy years 



1852.] . DEATH OF MISS BERRY. 9 

the contemporary of my grandfathers and grandmothers, she 
was already a very old woman when I first became acquainted 
with her, and it was not till a later period, about twenty 
years ago. that I began to live in an intimacy with her 
which continued uninterrupted to the last. My knowledge 
of her early life is necessarily only traditional. She must 
have been exceedingly good-looking, for I can remember her 
with a fine commanding figure and a very handsome face, 
full of expression and intelligence. It is well known that 
she was the object of Horace Wal]iole's octogenarian attach- 
ment, and it has been generally believed that he was anxious 
to marry her for the sake of bestowing upon her a title and 
a jointure, which advantages her disinterested and independ- 
ent spirit would not allow her to accept. She continued 
nevertheless to make the charm and consolation of his latter 
days, and at his death she became his literary executrix, in 
which capacity she edited Madame du Delfand's letters. 
She always preserved a great veneration for the memory of 
Lord Orford, and has often talked to me about him. I 
gathered from what she said that she never was herself 
cpiite sure whether he wished to marry iier, but inclined to 
believe that she might have been his wife had she chosen 
it. She seems to have been very early initiated into the best 
and most refined society, was a constant inmate of Devon- 
shire House and an intimate friend of the Duchess, a friend- 
ship which descended to her children, all of whom treated 
Miss Berry to the last with unceasing marks of attention, 
respect, and affection. She had been very carefully educated, 
and was full of literary tastes and general information, so 
that her conversation was always sjnrited, agreeable, and 
instructive ; her published works, without exhibiting a high 
order of genius, have considerable merit, and her "Social 
Life in England and France " and " The Life of Rachel, Lady 
Russell," will always be read with pleasure, and are entitled 
to a permanent place in English literature ; but her greatest 
merit was her amiable and benevolent disposition, which 
secured to her a very large circle of attached friends, who 
were drawn to her as much by affectionate regard as by the 
attraction of her vigorous understanding and the vivacity 
and variety of her conversational powers. For a great many 
years the Misses Berry were among the social celebrities of 

of a^e, and they became the objects of his devoted attachment and regard. Sec 
" National Biography," vol. iv. p. 397.1 



10 



REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 



London, and their hou^e was the continual resort of the most 
distinguished people of both sexes in politics, literature, and 
fashion. She ranked among her friends and associates all 
th3 most remarkable literary men of the day, and there 
certainly was no house at which so many persons of such 
various qualities and attainments, but all more or less dis- 
tino-uished, could be found assembled. She continued her 
n^mxl course of life, and to gather her friends about her, till 
within a few weeks of her death, and at last she sank by 
gradual exhaustion, without pain or suffering, and with the 
happy consciousness of the affectionate solicitude and care of 
the friends who had cheered and comforted the last declin- 
ing years of her existence. To those friends her loss is irrep- 
arable, and besides the private and individual bereavement 
it is impossible not to be affected by the melancholy con- 
sideration that her death has deprived the world of the sole 
survivor of a once brilliant generation, who in her person 
was a link between the present age and one fertile in great 
intellectual powers, to which our memories turn with never- 
failing curiosity and interest. 

Decemhcr Uh. — Last week the House of Commons was 
occupied with the " Eesolutions," the whole history of which 
was given by Graham, and which need not be repeated here.^ 
The divisions were pretty much what were expected, and the 
only interesting consideration is the effect produced, and the 
influence of the debate on the state of parties. Palmerston 
is highly glorified by his small clique, and rather smiled on 
by the Tories, but he has given great offence to both Whigs 
and Eadicals, and removed himself further than ever from a 
coalition with John Eussell and the Liberal party. Lord 
John himself, who made a very good speech, rather gained 
reputation by his behavior throughout the transaction, and 
is on better terms both with Cobden, Bright, and his own 
party, than he has been for some time past. Disraeli made 
a very imprudent speech, which disgusted many of his own 
adherents, and exposed him to vigorous attacks and a tre- 
mendous castigation on the part of his opponents, by Bernal 
Osborne in the coarser, and Sidney Herbert in more pol- 
ished style. The Protectionists generally cut a very poor 

' [After three nights' debate, the Eesolutions moved by Mr. Yilliers -were 
necrativcd by 256 to 23fi. and the motion adroitly substituted for them by Lord 
Palmerston in favor ol' " unrestricted competition" was carried by 468 against 
53, being accepted by the Government.] 



1852.] MR. DISRAELI'S BUDGET. H 

figure, aad had nothing to say for themselves, ''If people 
wish for humiliation,^^ said Sidney Herbert, "let them look 
at the benches opposite." But all the dirt they had to eat, 
and all the mortitication they had to endure, did not pre- 
vent the Derbyites from presenting a compact determined 
phalanx of about three hundred men, all resolved to support 
the Government, and to vote through thick and thin, with- 
out reference to their past or present opinions. The Minis- 
terial papers and satellites toss their caps up and proclaim 
a great victory, but it is difficult to discover in what the 
victory consists. It certainly shows that they are strong 
and devoted if not united. 

After the division there was a good deal of speculation 
rife as to Palmerston's joining the Government, which his 
friends insist he will not do. I am disposed to think he 
will. Since that we have had Beresford's affair in the 
House of Commons, and Clanricarde's folly in the Lords. 
Cockburn produced a strong prima facie case against Beres- 
ford, and the committee has been appointed on his case, and 
proceeds to business on Monday.^ Clanricarde chose de son 
chef to propose a resolution like that of the Commons, which 
Derby refused to take and offered another in its place, which 
Clanricarde has accepted. He gave Derby the opportunity 
he wanted of setting himself right with his own party, who, 
albeit resolved to support him, are smarting severely under 
his complete abandonment of Protection, and the necessity 
to which they are reduced of swallowing the nauseous Free 
Trade pill. He will make the dose more palatable by 
soothing their wounded pride. Clanricarde went to Lord 
Lansdowne and told him what he proposed to do. Lans- 
downe objected, but Clanricarde said he did it individually 
and would take all the responsibility on himself, on which 
Lansdowne very unwisely ceased to object. His purpose is 
to take no responsibility on himself. 

December 6th. — Ever since the termination of the " Reso- 
lutions " debate the world has been in a state of intense curi- 
osity to hear the budget, so long announced, and of which 
such magnificent things were predicted. The secret was so 
well kept that nobody knew anything about it, and not one 
of the hundred guesses and conjectures turned out to be 
correct. At length on Friday night Disraeli produced his 

' [This related to proceedings with reference to the recent election at Derby. ] 



12 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

measure in a house crowded to suffocation with members 
and strangers. He spoke for five and a half hours, much 
too diffusely, spinning out what he might have said in half 
the time. The budget has been on the whole tolerably well 
received, and may, I think, be considered successful, though 
it is open to criticism, and parts of it will be fiercely at- 
tacked, and he will very likely be obliged to change some 
parts of it. But though favorably received on the whole, 
it by no means answers to the extravagant expectations that 
were raised, or proves so entirely satisfactory to all parties 
and all interests as Disraeli rather imprudently gave out that 
it would be. The people who regard it with the least favor 
are those who will be obliged to give it the most unqualified 
support, the ex-Protectionists, for the relief or compensation 
to the landed interest is very far from commensurate with 
their expectations. It is certainly of a Free Trade charac- 
ter altogether, which does not make it the more palatable to 
them. He threw over the AVest Indians, and (Pakington, 
their advocate, sitting beside him) declared they had no 
claim to any relief beyond that which he tendered them, 
viz., the power of refining sugar in bond — a drop of water 
to one dying of thirst. I think it will go down, and make 
the Government safe. This I have all along thought they 
would be, and every day seems to confirm this opinion. 
They have got from three hundred to three hundred and 
fifteen men in the House of Commons who, though dissatis- 
fied and disappointed, are nevertheless determined to swal- 
low everything and support them through thick and thin, 
and they have to encounter an opposition, the scattered 
fractions of which are scarcely more numerous, but which is 
in a state of the greatest confusion and disunion, and with- 
out any prospect of concord among them. 

The Duke of Bedford came to me yesterday, and told 
me he had never been so disheartened about politics in his 
life, or so hopeless of any good result for his party, in which 
he saw nothing but disagreement and all sorts of pretensions 
and jealousies incompatible with any common cause, and 
Aberdeen, whom I met at dinner yesterday, is of much the 
same opinion. The principal object of interest and curios- 
ty seoms now to be whether Palmerston will join them or 
not. On this the most opposite opinions and rejoorts pre- 
vail. Just now it is said that he has resolved not. At all 
events, if he does, he will have to go alone, for he can take 



1852.] DEFEAT OF TEE BUDGET. 13 

nobody with him, as it certainly is his object to do. But it 
does not appear now as if there was the least chance of Glad- 
stone or 8idney Herbert joining him. The Duke of Bed- 
ford told me that both Derby and Palmerston were in better 
odor at Windsor than they were, and that the Queen and 
Prince approve of Pam's move about the Resolutions, and 
think he did good service. Aberdeen also thinks that though 
the Whigs and Radicals are angry with Lord Palmerston, 
and that his proceeding was unwari'an table, he stands in a 
better position in the country, and has gained credit and 
influence by what he did. Abroad, where nobody under- 
stands our affairs, he is supposed to have played a very great 
part, and to have given indubitable proof of great political 
jjower. 

December Wi. — Within these few days the Budget, which 
was not ill received at first, has excited a strong opposition, 
and to-morrow there is to be a pitched battle and grand trial 
of strength between the Government and Opposition upon 
it, and there is much difference of opinion as to the result. 
The Government have put forth that they mean to resign if 
beaten upon it. Derby and Disraeli were both remarkably 
well received at the Lord Mayor's dinner the night before 
last, and this is an additional proof that, in spite of all their 
disreputable conduct, they are not unpopular, and I believe, 
if the country were polled, they would as soon have these 
people for Ministers as any others. Nobody knows what part 
Palmerston is going to take. 

December ISth. — The last few days have been entirely 
occupied by the interest of the Budget debate and specula- 
tions as to the result. We received the account of the 
division at Panshanger yesterday morning, not without as- 
tonisliment ; for although the opinion had latterly been 
gaining ground that the Government would be beaten, no- 
body expected such a majority against them.^ Up to the 
last they were confident of winning. The debate was all 
against them, and only exhibited their weakness in the 
House of Commons. It was closed by two very fine speeches 
from Disraeli and Gladstone, very different in their style, 
but not unequal in their merits. 
Panshanger, December Idth. — I went to town yesterday 

' [The division on the Bud^'et t-^ok place on December IG after five nijihts' 
debate, the numbers being — for the Government, 286 ; against, 305 ; adverse 
majority, 19.] 



14 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

morning to hear what was going on. Lord Derby returned 
from Osborne in the middle of the day, and the Queen had 
sent for Lords Lansdowne and Aberdeen. She had been 
gracious to Derby, and j^ressed him to stay on, if it were 
only for a short time. I saw Talbot, and from the few 
words be let drop I gathered that they have already resolved 
to keep together, and to enter on a course of bitter and de- 
termined opposition. Not that he said this, of course, but 
he intimated that he had no idea of any new Government 
that might be formed being able to go on even for a short 
time, and that they would very speedily be let in again. 
The language of the Carlton corresponds with this, and I 
have no doubt they will be as virulent and as mischievous 
as they can. It remains to bo seen, if a good Government 
is formed, whether some will not be more moderate, and 
disposed to give the new Cabinet a fair trial. 

Clarendon writes me word that the meeting at Woburn 
between John Eussell, Aberdeen, Newcastle, and himself 
has been altogether satisfactory, everybody ready to give and 
take, and anxious to promote the common cause, without 
any selfish views or prejudices. Newcastle is particularly 
reasonable, disclaiming any hostility to John Eussell, and 
only objecting to his being at present the nominal head of 
the Government, because there is rightly or wrongly a preju- 
dice against him, which would prevent some Liberals and 
some Peelites joining the Government if he was placed in 
that position ; but he contemplates his ultimately resuming 
that post, and he (Newcastle) is ready to do anything in 
office or out. There is no disposition to take in Cobden 
and Bright, but they would not object to Molesworth. 

I went over to Brocket just now, and found the Palmer- 
stons there. He is not pleased at the turn matters have 
taken, would have liked the Government to go on at all 
events some time longer, and is disgusted at the thought of 
Aberdeen being at the head of the next Ministry. This is 
likewise obnoxious to the Whigs at Brooks's, and there will 
be no small difficulty in bringing them to consent to it, if 
Lansdowne refuses. Beauvale said if Palmerston had not 
been laid up, and prevented going to the House of Com- 
mons, he thinks this catastrophe would not have happened, 
for Palmerston meant to have done in a friendly way what 
Charles Wood did in an unfriendly one, and advised Disraeli 
to postpone and remake his Budget, and this advice so 



1852.] THE COALITION MINISTRY. 15 

tendered he thinks Dizzy would have taken, and then the 
issue would have been changed and deferred till after the 
recess. But I don't believe this fine scheme would have 
taken effect, or that Dizzy would or could have adopted 
such a course. Beauvale says he is pretty sure Palmerston 
will not take office under Aberdeen's Premiership ; on the 
other hand, Aberdeen has no objection to him, and will in- 
vite Palmerston, if the task devolves upon him. Ellice 
fancies Lansdowne will decline, and that Aberdeen will fail, 
and that it will end in Derby coming back, reinforced by 
Palmerston and some Peelites. The difficulties are certainly 
enormous, but by some means or other I think a Government 
will be formed. The exclusions will be very painful, and 
must be enormous. Lord Derby mot Granville and others 
at the station on Friday, and he said he calculated the new 
Cabinet could not consist of less than thirty-two men, and 
many then left out. It will be a fine time to test the 
amount of patriotism and unselfishness that can be found in 
the political world. 

London, December 21st. — I came to town yesterday morn- 
ing, and heard that the day before (Sunday) a very hostile 
feeling toward Aberdeen had been prevailing at Brooks's, 
but no doubt was entertained that the Government would 
be formed. In the afternoon Clarendon came to me on his 
way to the House of Lords, and told me all that had passed 
up to that time. On receiving the Queen's summons, a 
meeting took place between Lansdowne and Aberdeen at 
Lansdowne House, at which each did his best to persuade 
the other to accept the commission to form a Government. 
Lansdowne pleaded absolute physical inability, and his 
friends seem to be quite satisfied that he really could not 
undertake it. Accordingly Aberdeen gave way, and de- 
parted for Osborne on a reiterated summons, and, after tell- 
ing the Queen all that had passed between Lansdowne and 
himself, undertook the task. Nothing could be more cordial 
all this time than the relations between himself and John 
Russell ; but as soon as it became known that Aberdeen was 
to form the new Government, certain friends of John Eussell 
set to work to persuade him that it would be derogatory to 
his character to have any concern in it, and entreated him 
to refuse his concurrence. These were David Dundas and 
Eomilly, and there may have been others. This advice was 
probably the more readily listened to, because it corresponded 



16 REIGN OF QUEEN YICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

with his original yiew of the matter and his own natural dis- 
position, and it produced so much effect that yesterday morn- 
ing he went to Lansdowne and told him that he had resolved 
to have nothing to do with the new Government. Lans- 
downe was thunderstruck, and employed every argument he 
could think of to change this resolution. It so happened 
that he had written to Macaulay and asked him to call on 
him to talk matters over, and Macaulay was announced while 
Lord John was still there. Lansdowne told him the suhJ0ct 
of their discussion, and the case was put before Macaulay 
with all its pros and cons for his opinion. He heard all 
Lansdowne and Lord John had to say, and then delivered 
his opinion in a very eloquent speech, strongly recommend- 
ing Lord John to go on with Aberdeen, and saying that, at 
such a crisis as this, the refusal of his aid, which was indis- 
pensable for the success of the attempt, would be little short 
of treason. Lord John went away evidently shaken, but 
without pronouncing any final decision. Clarendon then 
called at Lansdowne House, and heard these particulars, and 
Lansdowne entreated him to go and see Lord John and try 
his influence over him. Clarendon had the day before given 
him his opinion in writing to the same effect as Macaulay. 
He went, saw him, and repeated all he had before written. 
Lord John took it very well, and, when he left him, said, 
" I suppose it Avill be as you wish," and when I saw Claren- 
don he seemed reassured, and tolerably confident that this 
great peril of the whole concern being thus shipwrecked in 
limine had passed away. After the House of Lords, where 
I heard Derby's strange and inexcusable speech, we again 
discussed the matter, when he said Lord John had raised 
another difficulty, for he said he would not take the Foreign 
/Ofiice, alleging, not without truth, that it was impossible for 
Vhim or any man to perform the duties of so laborious an 
oflBce and lead the House of Commons. Lord John also 
signified to Clarendon that he should insist on Ms being in 
the Cabinet, which Clarendon entreated him not to require. 
Newcastle, who was there, suggested that Lord John might 
take the Foreign Office for a time, and if he found the two 
duties incompatible he might give it up, and Clarendon 
seemed to think this might be done, and at all events he 
means to persuade Lord John (as eo doubt he will) to make 
up his mind to take it, for his not doing so would certainly 
be very inconvenient. Should Lord John prove obstinate 



1852.] LORD ST. LEONARDS. 17 

in this respect, I have no doubt Clarendon will himself be 
put there. 

We talked about the Great Seal, and Senior had been 
with Lord Lansdowne, who appears to incline very much to 
getting Lord St. Leonards^ to stay if he will, but ISenior 
thinks he will not ; certainly not, unless with the concur- 
rence of his present colleagues, which it is doubtful if Derby 
in his present frame of mind would give. The Chancellor 
was at Derby's meeting in the morning, which looks like a 
resolution to go out with them. It will be a good thing if 
he will remain, but it will do good to the new Covernment 
to invite him, whether he accepts or refuses. We talked of 
Brougham, but Clarendon, though anxious to have Brough- 
am in as President of the Council, thinks he would not do 
for the Woolsack, and that it will be better to have Cran- 
worth if Lord St. Leonards will not stay. There is a great 
difficulty in respect to the retiring pension. There can only 
be four, and Sugden's will make up the number, so that a 
fresh Chancellor could have none except at the death of one 
of the others. The worst part of the foregoing story is, that 
Lord John will not Join cordially and heartily, and it is im- 
possible to say, during the difficult adjustment of details, 
what objections he may not raise and what embarrassments 
he may not cause. 

There was a meeting at Lord Derby's yesterday morning, 
at which he told his friends he would continue to lead them, 
and he recommended a moderation, in which he probably 
was not sincere, and which they will not care to observe. 
Lord Delawarr got up and thanked him. Nothing can be 
more rabid than the party and the ex-ministers, and they 
are evidently bent on vengeance and a furious opposition. 
I fell in with Lord Drumlanrig and Ousely Iliggins yester- 
day morning, one a moderate Derbyite (always Free Trader), 
the other an Irish Brigadier. Drumlanrig told me he knew 
of several adherents of Derby who were resolved to give the 
new Government fair play, and would not rush into opposi- 

1 [Sir Edward Burtenshaw Sudden was one of the most eminent equity 
lawyers of the day, distincuislicd as an advocate in the Court of Chancery and 
by his important leiral writings. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Ireland 
under the two Administrations of Sir Robert Peel, and he received the Great 
Seal of Enu;land on the formation of Lord Derby's Administration in 1852, 
with a peerage under the title of Baron St. Leonards. But he owed his 
celebrity and his promotion to his eminence as a lawyer far more than to his 
activity as a pohtician.] 



18 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

tion, and Ousely Higgins said he thought the Irish would be 
all right, especially if, as the report I'an, Granville was sent 
to Ireland ; but there is no counting on the Irish Brigade, 
whose object it is to embarrass every Government. If they 
could be friendly to any, it would, however, be one com- 
posed of Aberdeen, Graham, and Gladstone, the ojoponents 
of the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill. 

December 22d. — On going to The Grove yesterday after- 
noon, I found a letter Clarendon had received from Lans- 
downe in bad spirits enough. He had seen Aberdeen, who 
had received no answer from John Russell, and Aberdeen 
was prepared, if he did not get his acceptance the next 
morning, to give the thing up. Lansdowne was greatly 
alarmed and far from confident Lord John would agree, at 
all events, that he would not take the Foreign Office, in 
which case Lansdowne said he (Clarendon) must take it. 
Nothing could look worse. This moi*ning Clarendon re- 
ceived a letter from Aberdeen announcing that Lord John 
had agreed to lead the House of Commons, either without 
an office or with a nominal one, and asking Clarendon to 
take the Foreign Office. We oame up to town together, he 
meaning to accept unless he can prevail on Lord John to 
take it, if it be only for a time, and he is gone to see what 
he can do with him. He told me last night that Avhen he 
was at Woburn last week, the Duke informed him that he 
had had a confidential communication from Stockmar, ask- 
ing for his advice, whom the Queen should send for if the 
Government was beaten and if Derby resigned. He had 
just received this letter, and had not answered it, and con- 
sulted Clarendon what he should say. Clarendon advised 
him to recommend Lansdowne and Aberdeen, and he wrote 
to that effect. . The very morning after the division, just as 
they were going hunting, the hounds meeting at the Torr, a 
Queen's messenger arrived with another letter, requesting he 
would communicate more fully his sentiments at the present 
crisis. The messenger was ordered to keep himself secret, 
and not to let his mission transpire. The Duke, under 
Clarendon's advice, wrote a long letter back, setting forth 
in detail all that had, not long ago, passed about Palmerston 
and Lansdowne, and his notions of the difficulties and exi- 
gencies of the present time. He said that it was evident 
Lord John could not make a Government, and that he was 
himself conscious of it. 



1852.] ABERDEEN AND PALMEESTON. 19 

December 23(7. — It appears that on Tuesday (21st) Aber- 
deen went to Palmerston, who received him very civilly, 
even cordially, talked of old times, and reminded him that 
they had been acquainted for sixty years (since they were 
at Harrow together), and had lived together in the course of 
their political lives more than most men. Aberdeen otfered 
him the Admiralty, saying he considered it in existing cir- 
cumstances the most important office, and the one in which 
he could render the greatest service to the country, but if 
he for any reason objected to that office, he begged him to 
say what other office he would have. Palmerston replied 
that he had no hostile feeling toward him, but they had for 
so many years been in strong opposition to each other, that 
the public would never understand his taking office in Aber- 
deen's Government, and he was too old to expose himself to 
such misconceptions. And so they parted, on ostensibly 
very friendly terms, which will probably not prevent Palm- 
erston's Joining Derby and going into furious opposition. In 
the course of the day yesterday both Clarendon and Lans- 
downe called on Palmerston, and he expressed great satis- 
faction at Clarendon's appointment to the Foreign Office. 

In the afternoon I called on Lady Clanricarde, who gave 
me to understand that Clanricarde was likely to become a 
personage of considei'able influence and power (and therefore 
worth having), inasmuch as the Irish Band had made over- 
tures to him, and signified their desire to act under his 
guidance. She said this was not the first overture he had 
received of the kind from the same quarter ; that for various 
reasons he had declined the others, but she thought at the 
present time he might very well listen to it ; that they were 
yery anxious to be led by a gentleman, and a man of con- 
sideration and station in the world. All this, to which I 
attach very little credit, was no doubt said to me in order to 
be repeated, and that it might impress on Aberdeen and his 
friends and colleagues the importance of securing Clanri- 
carde's services and co-operation ; and I am the more con- 
firmed in this by receiving a note from the Marchioness 
in the evening, begging I would not repeat what she had 
told me. 

There was nothing new yesterday in the purlieus of 
Whiggism, but I think somewhat more of acquiescence, and 
a disposition to regard this combination as inevitable. The 
Derbyites quite frenzied, and prepared to go any lengths. 



20 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

Lonsdale told me tlie party were delighted with Derby's in- 
temperate speech in the House of Lords, which seems to have 
been rehearsed at his own meeting the same moniing ; and 
the other day twenty ruffians of the Carlton Club gave a 
dinner there to Beresford, to celebrate what they consider 
his acquittal ! After dinner, when they got drunk, they 
went upstairs, and finding Gladstone alone in the drawing- 
room, some of them proposed to throw him out of the win- 
dow. This they did not quite dare to do, but contented them- 
selves with giving some insulting message or order to the 
waiter, and then went away. 

Hatch ford, Friday, 2Uh. — The great event of yesterday 
was Palmerston's accession to the Government. Lord Lans- 
downe had called on him the day before, and had, I suspect, 
little difficulty in persuading him to change his determina- 
tion and join the new Cabinet. He said he would place 
himself in Lord Lansdowne's hands, and yes*:erday morning 
I heard as a secret, though it was speedily published, that 
he had agreed to take the Home Office. The next thing 
was Lord John's consent to take the Foreign Office. This 
he was persuaded to do by Clarendon, who engaged to help 
him in the work, and relieve him by taking it himself the 
moment Lord John should find himself unequal to it, and 
on these conditions he consented. It was settled that Glad- 
stone should be Chancellor of the Exchequer, but Delane 
went to Aberdeen last night for the purpose of getting him 
to change this arrangement on the ground of the difficulty 
there would be about the Income Tax. 

The important part of forming the Cabinet is now done, 
and nothing remains but the allotment of the places. It 
will be wonderfully strong in point of ability, and in this 
respect exhibit a marked contrast with the last ; but its very 
excellence in this respect may prove a source of weakness, 
and eventually of disunion. The late Cabinet had two para- 
mount chiefs, and all the rest nonentities, and the nominal 
head was also a real and predominant head. In the pres- 
ent Cabinet are five or six first-rate men of equal or nearly 
equal pretensions, none of them likely to acknowlege the 
superiority or defer to the opinions of any other, and every 
one of these five or six considering himself abler and more 
important than their Premier. They are all at present on 
very good terms and perfectly satisfied with each other ; but 
this satisfaction does not extend beyond the Cabinet itself ; 



1852.] THE ABERDEEN CABINET. 21 

murmnrings and grumblings are already very loud. The y^ 
Whigs have never looked with much benignity on this coali- 
tion, and they are now furious at the unequal and, as they 
think, unfair distribution of places. These complaints are 
not without reason, nor will it make matters better that 
John Russell has had no communication with his old friends 
and adherents, nor made any struggle, as it is believed, to 
provide for them, although his adhesion is so indispensable 
that he might have made any terms and conditions he chose. 
Then the Radicals, to judge from their press, are exceeding- 
ly sulky and suspicious, and more likely to opjDOse than to 
support the new Government. The Irish also seem disposed 
to assume a menacing and half hostile attitude, and, having 
contributed to overthrow the last Government, are very 
likely (according to the policy chalked out for them after 
the election) to take an early opportunity of aiding the 
Derbyites to turn out this. Thus hampered with difficulties 
and beset with dangers, it is impossible to feel easy about 
their prospects. If, however, they set to work vigorously 
to frame good measures and remove practical and crying 
evils, they may excite a feeling in their favor in the country, 
and may attract support enough from different quarters in 
the House of Commons to go on, but I much fear that it 
will at best be a perturbed and doubtful existence. Such 
seems the necessary condition of every Government now- 
adays, and unfortunately there is a considerable party which 
rejoices in such a state of things, and only desires to ag- 
gravate the mischief, because they think its continuance and 
the instability of every Government will be most conducive 
to the ends and objects which they aim at. 

London, December 28fh. — The remonstrances against 
Gladstone's being Chancellor of the Exchequer were unavail- 
ing, but he says he is not tied up by anything he said about 
the Income Tax. This will nevertheless be a great difficulty, 
for Graham and Wood, though not perhaps so much com- 
mitted as Gladstone, are both against the alteration, which 
tiie public voice undoubtedly demands. Last night the new 
Ministers took their places on the Treasury bench, and the 
Tories moved over to the opposite side. Aberdeen made 
his statement, which was fair enough and not ill received, 
but it was ill delivered, and he omitted to say all he rnight 
and ought to have said about Lord Lansdowne, nor did he 
say enough about John Russell. He said, on the other hand. 



22 REIGX OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

more than enough about foreign policy, and gave Derby 
a good opportunity of attacking that part of his speech. 
Derby was more moderate and temperate than on the first 
night, and made a pretty good speech. Ho was wrong in 
dilating so much on what had passed in the House of Com- 
mons, and he made very little of the ease of combination ; 
he was severe on Graham and his speech at his election at 
Carlisle, and Graham heard it all. Nobody else said a word. 
The Government is now complete, except some of the 
minor appointments and the Household. It has not been 
a smooth and easy business by any means, and there is 
anything but contentment, cordiality, and zeal in the con- 
federated party. The Whi^^s are excessively dissatisfied with 
the share of places allotted to them, and complain that 
every Peelite without exception has been provided for, while 
half the Whigs are excluded. Though they exaggerate the 
case, there is a good deal of justice in their complaints, and 
they have a right to murmur against Aberdeen for not doing 
more for them, and John Eussell for not insisting on a 
larger share of patronage for his friends.^ Clarendon told 
mo last night that the Peelites have behaved very ill, and 
have grasped at everything, and he mentioned some very 
flagrant cases, in which, after the distribution had been 
settled between Aberdeen and John Eussell, Nev/castle and 
Sidney Herbert, for they appear to have been the most 
active in the matter, persuaded Aberdeen to alter it and 
bestow or offer offices intended for Whigs to Peelites and 
in some instances to Derbyites who had been Peelites. 
Clarendon has been all along very anxious to get Brougham 
into the Cabinet as President of the Council, and he pro- 
posed it both to Lord John and Aberdeen, and the latter 
acquiesced, and Clarendon thought it was going to be 
arranged that Granville should be President of the Board of 
Trade, and Brougham President of Council ; but Newcastle 
and Sidney Herbert not only upset this plan, but proposed 
that Ellenborough should be President of Council, and then, 
when he was objected to, Harrowby. They also wanted 
that Jersey should remain Master of the Horse, Jonathan 
Peel go again to the Ordnance, and Chandos .continue a 
Lord of the Treasury. With what object they wished for 

1 [It was however, Lord John who prevented Mr. Cardwell, the President 
of the Boara of Trade, from having a seat in the Cabinet, on the ground that 
there were already too many Peelites in it.] 



1852.] THE CLAIMS OF THE PEELITES. 23 

these appointments I have not an idea, but the Tcrj notion 
of them is an insult to the Whigs, and will be resented 
accordingly. 

Lord Lansdowne seems to have taken little or no part in 
all this. He hooked Palmerston, and, having rcndertd this 
great service, he probably thought he had done enough. 
The Whigs at Brooks's are very angry, and Bessborough 
told me that he thought his party so ill used, that he had 
implored Lord John to withdraw even now rather than be 
a party to such injustice. Lord John seems to have been 
very supine, and while the Peelites were all activity, and 
intent on getting all they could, he let matters take their 
course, and abstained from exercising the influence in behalf 
of his own followers which his position and the indispen- 
sability of his co-operation enabled him to do. This puts 
them out of humor with him as much as with Aberdeen and 
his friends. 

W^e had a great reunion here (at Lord Granville's) last 
night, with half the Cabinet at dinner or in the evening. I 
told Graham what the feelings of the Whigs were. He 
said they had a very large and important share, the Chan- 
cellors of England and of Ireland, etc., and he defended 
some of the appointments and consequent exclusions on 
special grounds. They have made Monsell, an Irish Catholic 
convert, Clerk of the Ordnance, together with some other 
Irish Catholic appointments, and he said that these were 
necessary in order to reconquer in Ireland what had been 
lost by the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, and that it was of more 
consequence to conciliate that large part of the Empire than 
to provide for the Ansons and the Pagets ; and on the same 
ground he Justified the appointment of St. Germans instead 
of Lord Carlisle as Lord Lieiitenant. All this may be very 
true, but the Whigs to be left out to make room for these 
substitutes will not be convinced or pacified by the political 
expediency which Graham sets forth, nor will such appoint- 
ments be at all popular here. If, however, they really should 
be the means of rallying the Irish Brigade to the support 
of the Government, it may be patronage well bestowed. 
But this makes it a disagreeable start, and may be hereafter 
productive of serious consequences. Nothing can be more 
shortsighted, as well as unfair, than the conduct of the Peel- 
ites in trying to thrust their own people instead of Whigs 
into the offices, for they can only hope to keep their places 



24 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. 

at all bj the zealous support of tlie whole Whig force, them- 
selves bringing next to nothing in point of numbers, and to 
encounter such a numerous and compact Opposition will 
require the zealous co-operation of all who wish well to the 
Liberal cause, and who are against Derby. Newcastle talked 
to me last night about Aberdeen's speech, acknowledged 
its deficiencies, and said he had told Aberdeen what he 
thought of it. Aberdeen acknowledged it all, said he was 
so unaccustomed to make such statements, that he had for- 
gotten or overlooked it, and wished he could have spoken it 
again to repair the omission. They ail seem at yreaent very 
harmonious in their intercourse. 

After dinner last night John Eussell and Cliarles Wood 
went oil to meet Aberdeen, for the purpose, I believe, of 
settling some of the arrangements not yet fixed. Clarendon 
told me that Charles Wood had been of use in stimulating 
John Russell to interfere and prevent some of the proposed 
changes which the Peelites wished Aberdeen to make in the 
list as originally settled between him and Lord John, and 
it is very well that he did. It is impossible not to see that 
Lord John himself, though now willing to co-operate and 
do his best, has never been hearty in the cause, nor entirely 
satisfied with his own position ; and this has probably made 
him more lukewarm, and deterred him from taking a more 
active and decided part in the formation of the Government. 
We are Just going down to Windsor, the old Government to 
give up seals, wands, etc., tbe new to be sworn in. They 
go by different railways, that they may not meet. It is sin- 
gular that I have never attended a Council during the nine 
months Lord Derby was in office, not once ; consequently 
there are several of his Cabinet whom I do not know by 
sight — Pakington, Walpole, and Henley. With my friends 
I resume my functions. 

Decemler 29th. — I went down to the Council yesterday 
at Windsor with the ins, and we saw nothing of the outs, 
who went by another train and railway. Palmerston was 
there, looking very ill indeed. They all seem on very cor- 
dial terms. Graham told me he had had a very friendly 
conversation with Palmerston, and was greatly rejoiced at 
being again united to his old colleague. He acknowledged 
that it was a great mistake in Aberdeen to have offered the 
Mastership of the Horse to Lord Jersey. Aberdeen has now 
proposed the Lord Steward's jolace to Carlisle, which he will 



1853.] LORD ABERDEEN'S ADMINISTRATION. 25 

probably not take, and possibly be offended at, the offer. I 
suppose Aberdeen has been subjected to pressure from vari- 
ous quarters, but might have made a better selection and 
distribution than he has done. 

January 5th, 1853. — The elections are all going on well, 
except Gladstone's, who appears in great jeopardy. Nothing 
could exceed the disgraceful conduct of his opponents, lying, 
tricking, and shuffling, as might be expected from such a 
party. The best thing that could happen for Gladstone 
would be to be beaten, if it were not for the triumph it 
would be to the blackguards who have got up the contest ; 
for the representation of Oxford is always an embarrassment 
to a statesman, and Peel's losing his election there in 1829 
was the most fortunate event possible for him. The only 
speech of the new Ministers calling for special notice is 
Palmerston's at Tiverton, which appears to me to conceal 
an arriere-pensee. He spoke in civil, even complimentary, 
terms of the Derby Government, so much so, that if any 
break-up or break-down should occur in this, and Lord 
Derby return to office, there appears no reason why Palm- 
erston should not form a fresh coalition with him ; and it 
looks very much as if he was keeping this contingency in 
view, and putting himself in such an attitude as should en- 
able him with some plausibility to join the camp of such a 
restoration. 

The Cabinet of Lord Aberdeen's Administration consisted 
of the following Ministers : 

Earl of Aberdeen . . . First Lord of the Treasury. 

Lord Orati worth .... Lord Oliancellor. 

Earl Granville .... Lord President of the Councih 

The Duke of Argyll . . . Lord Privy Seal. 

Mr. Gladstone .... Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

Viscount Pahnerston . . . Home Secretary of State. 

The Duke of ISTewcastb . . Secretary for Colonies and War. 

Lord John Russell (and later the 

Earl of Clarendon) . . . Forein^n Secretary. 

Sir James Graham . . . First Lord of the Admiralty. 

Mr. Sidney Herbert . . . Secretary at War. 

Sir Charles Wood . . . President of the Indian Board. 

Sir William Molesworth . . First Commissioner of Works. 
The Marquis of Lansdowne without oflBce. 
2 



26 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IL 



CHAPTER IL 

A Eoyal Commission on Reform— M. de Flahault on the Emperor Napoleon— Lord John's 
Blunder— Disraeli's Negotiation with the Irish Members— Lord Beauvale's Death- 
Lady Beauvale's Grief- Napoleon Hi. and Mdlle. de Montijo— Parliament meets— The 
Emperor's Marriage-Disraelis Attack on Sir C. Wood— Dislilie of Mr. Disraeli- 
Lord John Russell'leaves the Foreign Office— Lord Stanley's Dberal Votes— Disraeli's 
Opinion of his CoUeag-ues- The Government in Smooth Water — England unpopular 
abroad— Massimo d'Azeglio— The Austrians in Italy— The Bishop of Lincoln— The 
Duke of Bedford's Papers — Lord Palmerston leads the House— Social Amenities- 
Rancor of Northern Powers against England— Friendly Resolution of the Emperor 
Napoleon III.— Difficulties at Home— The India Bill— The Eastern Question— The 
Czars Proposals — Russian Assurances — The Royal Family. 

Boivood, January 12th, 1853. — I came here on Monday 
to meet the Cannings, Harcourt/ and Lady Waldegra,ve, 
the Bessboroughs, Elphinstone, Senior, and the family. 
Senior talked to me about the Government and Reform, and 
the danger of their splitting on the latter question and pro- 
pounded a scheme he has for obviating this danger. He 
wants to have a Royal Commission to inquire into the prac- 
tice of bribery at elections and the means of preventing it, 
or, if possible, to have an inquiry of a more extensive and 
comprehensive character into the state of the representation 
and the working of the Reform Bill. We talked it over, and 
I told him I thought this would not be a bad expedient. 
He had already spoken to Lord Lansdowne about it, who 
seemed not adverse to the idea, and promised to talk to Lord 
John Russell on the subject. Senior, when he went away, 
begged me to talk to Lord Lansdowne also, which I at- 
tempted to do, but without success, for he seemed quite in- 
disposed to enter upon it. 

Beaudesert, January 19th.— To town on Saturday and 
here on Monday, with the Flahaults, Bessboroughs, Ansons, 
my brothers, and the family. Lord Anglesey and M. de 
Flahault talk over their campaigns, and compare notes on the 
events of Sir John Moore's retreat and other military opera- 
tions, in which they have served in opposing armies. Fla- 
hault was aide-de-camp to Marshal Berthier till the middle 
of the Russian campaign, when he became aide-de-camp to 
Napoleon, whom he never quitted again till the end of his 
career. His accounts of what he has seen and known are 
curious and interesting. He says that one of the Emperor's 

1 [Georsre Granville Harconrt, Esq., M. P., eldest son of the Archbisliop of 
York, and" third husband of Frances, Countess of Waldegrave.] 



1853.] LORD JOHN'S ARRANGEMENT DISAPPROVED. 27 

greatest mistakes and the causes of his misfortunes was his 
habit of ordering everything, down to the minutest arrange- 
ment, himself, and leaving so little to the discretion and re- 
sponsibility of his generals and others that they became mere 
machines, and were incapable of acting, or afraid to act, on 
their own judgments. On several occasions great calamities 
.were the consequence of this unfortunate habit of Napo- 
leon's. 

London, January 2Uh. — The Duke of Bedford called 
here this morning. I had not seen him for an age ; he was 
just come from Windsor with a budget of matter, which as 
usual he was in such a hurry that he had not time to tell me. 
I got a part of it, however. I began by asking him how he 
had left them all at Windsor, to which he replied that the 
state of things was not very satisfactory. The Queen dis- 
approved Lord John's arrangement for giving up the seals 
of the Foreign Office on a given day (the 15th February) 
which had not been previously explained to her Majesty, as 
it ought to have been. She said that she should make no 
objection if any good reason could be assigned for what was 
proposed, either of a public or a private nature, any reason 
connected with his health or with the transaction of business, 
but she thought, and she is right, that fixing beforehand 
a particular day, without any special necessity occurring, is 
very unreasonable and absurd. Then they are all very angry 
with Lord John for an exceeding piece of folly of his, in an- 
nouncing to the Foreign Ministers, the clay he received them, 
that he was only to be at the Foreign Office for a few weeks. 
This, as the Duke said, was a most unwise and improper 
communication, particularly as it was made without any 
concert with Aberdeen, and without his knowledge, and, in 
fact, blurted out with the same sort of levity that was ap- 
parent in the Durham letter and the Reform announcement, 
with both of which he has been so bitterly reproached, and 
which have proved so inconvenient that it might have been 
thought he would not fall again into similar scrapes. The 
Foreign Ministers themselves were exceedingly astonished, 
and not a little annoyed. Brunnow said it was a complete 
mockery, and they all felt that it was unsatisfactory to be 
put m relation with a Foreign Secretary who was only to be 
there for a few weeks. 

The Queen is delighted to have got rid of the late Minis- 
ters. She felt, as everybody else does, that their Govern- 



28 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IL 

ment was disgraced by its shufifling and prevarication, and 
she said that Harcourt's pamphlet (which was all true) was 
sufficient to show what they were.-^ As she is very honora- 
ble and true herself, it was natural she should disapprove 
their conduct. 

Yesterday Delane called on me, and gave me an account 
of a curious conversation he had had with Disraeli. Disraeli 
asked him to call on him, which he did, when they talked 
over recent events and the fall of the late Government, very 
frankly, it would seem, on Disraeli's part. He acknowledged 
that he had been bitterly mortified. When Delane asked 
him, "now it was all over," what made him produce such a 
Budget, he said, if he had not been thwarted and disap- 
pointed, he should have carried it by the aid of the Irish 
Brigade whom he had engaged for that purpose. Just before 
the debate, one of them came to him and said, if he would 
agree to refer Sharman Crawford's Tenant Eight Bill to the 
Select Committee with the Government Bill, they would all 
vote with him. He thought this too good a bargain to miss, 
and he closed with his friend on those terms, told Walpole 
what he had arranged, desired him to carry out the bargain, 
and the thing was done. No sooner was the announcement 
made than Lord ISTaas and Sir Joseph Napier^ (who had 
never been informed) came in a great fury to Disraeli and 
Walpole, complained of the way they had been treated, and 
threatened to resign. With great difficulty he pacified or 
rather silenced them, and he was in hopes the storm had 
blown over, but the next day he found Naas and Napier had 
gone to Lord Derby with their complaints, and he now 
found the latter full of wrath and indignation likewise ; for 
Lord Eoden, who had heard something of this compromise 
(i. e., of the Tenant Eight Bill being referred to Committee), 
announced his intention of asking Lord Derby a question in 
the House of Lords. Added to this, as soon as the news 
reached Dublin, Lord Eglinton and Blackburne testified the 
same resentment as Naas and Napier had done, and threat- 
ened to resign likewise. All this produced a prodigious 

1 [Mr. William Hareourt published a pamphlet at this time on " The Morality 
of Public Men," in which he censured with great severity the conduct of the 
late Ministers.] 

2 rivord Naas was Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Sir Joseph Napier Attor- 
ney-General for Ireland, in Lord Derby's Administration of 1852. Lord Eglin- 
ton was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and the Eight Hon. Francis Blackburne 
Irish Lord ChanceUor.J 



1853.] DISRAELI AND THE IRISH BRIGADE. 29 

flare-up. Disraeli represented that it was his business to 
make the Budget succeed bj such means as he could, that 
the votes of the Brigade would decide it either way, and 
that he had made a very good bargain, as he had pledged 
himself to nothing more, and never had any intention of 
giving any suite to what had been done, so that it could not 
signify. He did not succeed in appeasing Lord Derby, who, 
a night or two after in the Lords, repudiated all participa- 
tion in what had been done, and attacked the Irishmen very 
bitterly. Disraeli heard this speech, and saw at once that 
it would be fatal to the Budget and to them, as it proved, 
for the whole Brigade voted in a body against the Govern- 
ment, and gave a majority to the other side. He seemed in 
pretty good spirits as to the future, though without for the 
present any definite purpose. He thinks the bulk of the 
party will keep together. Delane asked him what he would 
have done with such a Budget if he had carried it. He said 
they should have remodelled their Government, Palmerston 
and Gladstone would have joined them {Gladstone after the 
debate and their duel !) ; during the intervening two or 
three months the Budget would have been discussed in the 
country, what was liked retained, what was unpopular al- 
tered, and in the end they should have produced a very good 
Budget which the country would have taken gladly. He 
never seems to have given a thought to any consideration of 
political morality, honesty, or truth in all that he said. 
The moral of the whole is, that let Avhat will happen it will 
be very difficult to bring Lord Derby and Disraeli together 
again. They must regard each other with real, if not 
avowed, distrust and dislike. Disraeli said that Derby's po- 
sition in life and his fortune were so different from his, that 
their several courses must be influenced accordingly. It is 
easy to conceive how Lord Derby, embarked (no matter how 
or why) in such a contest, should strain every nerve to suc- 
ceed and fight it out ; but the thing once broken up, he 
would not be very likely to place himself again in such a 
situation, and to encounter the endless difficulties, dangers, 
and mortifications attendant upon the lead of such a party, 
and above all the necessity of trusting entirely to such a col- 
league as Disraeli in the House of Commons without one 
other man of a grain of capacity besides. As it is, he will 
probably betake himself to the enjoyment of his pleasures 
and pursuits, till he is recalled to political life by some fresh 



30 • REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, [Chap. II. 

excitement and interest that time and circumstances may 
throw in his way ; but let wliat will hai^pen, I doubt his 
encountering again the troubles and trammels of office.^ 

January SOih. — Yesterday morning Frederic Lamb, Lord 
Beauvale and Melbourne, with whom both titles cease, died 
at Brocket after a short but severe attack of influenza, fever, 
and gout. He was in his seventy-first year. Lady Palmer- 
ston thus becomes a rich heiress. He was not so remarkable 
a man in character as his brother William, less peculiar and 
eccentric, more like other people, with much less of literary 
acquirement, less caustic humor and pungent wit ; but he 
had a vigorous understanding, great quickness, a good deal 
of general information ; he was likewise well versed in busi- 
ness and public affairs, and a very sensible and intelligent 
converser and correspondent. He took a deep and lively in- 
terest in politics to the last moment of his life, was insatiably 
curious about all that was going on, and was much confided 
in and consulted by many people of very different parties 
and opinions. He never was in Parliament, but engaged all 
his life in a diplomatic career, for which he was very well 
fitted, having been extremely handsome in his youth, and 
always very clever, agreeable, and adroit. He consequently 
ran it with great success, and was in high estimation at- 
Vienna, where his brother-in-law, Palmerston, sent him as 
Ambassador. He was always much addicted to gallantry, 
and had endless liaisons with women, most of whom contin- 
ued to be his friends long after they had ceased to be his 
mistresses, much to the credit of all parties. After having 
led a very free and dissolute life, he had the good fortune 
at sixty years old, and with a broken and enfeebled constitu- 
tion, to settle (as it is called), by marrying a charming girl 
of twenty, the daughter of the Prussian Minister at Vienna, 
Count Maltzahn. This Adine, who was content to unite 
her May to his December, was to him a perfect angel, devot- 
ing her youthful energies to sustain and cheer his valetudi- 
narian existence with a cheerful unselfishness, which he re- 
paid by a grateful and tender affection, having an air at once 
marital and paternal. She never cared to go anywhere, gave 
up all commerce with the world and all its amusements and 
pleasures, contenting herself with such society as it suited 

1 [A singularly unfortunate prediction ! Tlie alliance of Lord Der"by and Mr. 
Disraeli remained unbroken, and continued long enough to enable them (after a 
second failure) to bring the Conservative party back to power.] 



1853.] LADY BEAUVALE. 31 

him to gather about them — his old frieDds and some new 
ones — to whom she did the honors with infinite grace and 
cordiahty. and who all regarded her with great admiration 
and respect. In such social intercourse, in political gossip, 
and in her untiring attentions, his last years glided away, 
not without enjoyment. He and his brother William had 
always been on very intimate terms, and William highly 
prized his advice and opinions ; but, as Frederic was at heart 
a Tory, and had a horror of Eadicalism in every shape, he 
was not seldom disgusted with the conduct of the Whig Gov- 
ernment, and used sorely to perplex and mortify William by 
his free and severe strictures on him and his colleagues. He 
nominally belonged to the Liberal party, but in reality he 
was strongly Conservative, and he always dreaded the prog- 
ress of democracy, though less disturbed than he would 
otherwise have been by reflecting that no material alteration 
could possibly overtake him. His most intimate friends 
abroad were the Mettornichs and Madame de Lieven, and his 
notions of foreign policy were extremely congenial to theirs. 
Here, his connections all lying with people of the Liberal 
side, he had nothing to do with the Tories, for most of whom 
he entertained great contempt. Brougham, Ellice, and my- 
self were the men he was most intimate with. He was very 
fond of his sister, but never much liked Palmerston, and 
was bitterly opposed to his policy when he was at the For- 
eign Office, which was a very sore subject between himself 
and them, and for a long time, and on many occasions, em- 
bittered or interrupted their intercourse ; but, as he was 
naturally affectionate, had a very good temper, and loved 
an easy life, such clouds were always soon dispersed, and no 
permanent estrangement ever took place. He was largely 
endowed with social merits and virtues, without having or 
affecting any claim to those of a higher or moral character. 
I have no doubt he was much more amiable as an old man 
than he ever had been when he was a young one ; and, 
though the death of one so retired from the world can make 
little or no sensation in it, except as being the last of a re- 
markable family, he will be sincerely regretted, and his loss 
will be sensibly felt by the few who enjoyed the intimacy of 
his declining years. 

February Sth. — Yesterday I went to see the unhappy 
Lady Beauvale, and, apart from the sorrow of witnessing so 
much bodily and mental suffering, it is really a singular and 



32 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. H. 

extraordinary case. Here is a woman thirty-two years old, 
and therefore in the prime of life, who has lost a husband of 
seventy-one, deprived of the use of his limbs, and whom she 
had nursed for ten years, the period of their union, with the 
probable or possible fatal termination of his frequent attacks 
of gout constantly before her eyes, and she is not merely 
jDlunged in great grief at the loss she has sustained, but in a 
blank and hopeless despair, which in its moral and physical 
effects seriously menaces her own existence. She is calm, 
reasonable and docile, talks of him and his illness without 
any excitement, and is ready to do everything that her 
friends advise ; but she is earnestly desirous to die, considers 
her sole business on earth as finished, and talks as if the pro- 
longation of her own life could only be an unmitigated evil 
and intolerable burden, and that no ray of hope was left for 
her of any possibility of happiness or even peace and ease 
for the future. She is in fact brokenhearted, and that for a 
man old enough to be her grandfather, and a martyr to dis- 
ease and infirmity ; but to her he was everything ; she had 
consecrated her life to the preservation of his, and she kept 
his vital flame alive with the unwearied watching of a Vestal 
priestess. She had made him an object and an idol round 
which all the feelings and even passion of an affectionate 
heart had entwined themselves, till at last she had merged 
her very existence in his, and only lived in, Avith, and for 
him. She saw and felt that he enjoyed life, and she made it 
her object to promote and prolong this enjoyment. " Why," 
she says, " could I not save him now, as 1 saved him hereto- 
fore ? " and not having been able to do so, she regards her 
own life as utterly useless and unnecessary, and only hopes 
to be relieved of it that she may (as she believes and expects) 
be enabled to join him in some other world. ^ 

February Wi. — Yesterday Clarendon told me a curious 
thing about the Emperor Napoleon and his marriage, which 
came in a roundabout way, but which do doubt is true. 
Madame de Montijo's most intimate friend is the Marchion- 
ess of Santa Cruz, and to her she wrote an account of what 
had passed about her daughter's marriage and the Emperor's 
proposal to her. When he offered her marriage, she expressed 
her sense of the greatness of the jDosition to which he pro- 
posed to raise her. He replied, " It is only fair that I should 

1 [She lived, however, and married Lord Forester, en secondcs noces. in 
1856.] 



1853.] PARLIAMENT MEETS. 33 

set before you the whole truth, and let you know that if the 
position is very high, it is also perhaps very dangerous and 
insecure." He then represented to her in detail all the dan- 
gers with which he was environed, his unpopularity with the 
higher classes, the mnlveillance of the Great Powers, the 
possibility of his being any day assassinated at her side, his 
popularity indeed with the masses, but the fleeting character 
of their favor, but above all the existence of a good deal of 
disaffection and hostility in the army, tlie most serious thing 
of all. If this latter clanger, he said, were to become more 
formidable, he knew very well how to avert it by a war ; and 
though his earnest desire was to maintain peace, if no other 
means of self-preservation should remain, he should not 
shrink from that, which would at once rally the whole army 
to one common feeling. All this he toLd her with entire 
frankness, and without concealin^^ie perils i5f his position, 
or his sense of them, and it is oiid 6f the inost creditable 
traits I have ever heard of him. It was, of course, calcu- 
lated to engage and attach any w^oafcin of high spirit and 
generosity, and it seems to have had that efl'ect upon her. 
It is, however, curious in many ways ; it jeveals a sense of 
danger that is not apparently suspected, and his conscious- 
ness of it ; and it shows how^in spite of a sincere wish to 
maintain peace, he may be driven to make war as a means of 
self-preservation, and therefore how entirely necessary it is 
that we should be on our guard, and not relax our defensive 
])reparations. I was sure from the conversations I had with 
M. de Flahault at Beaudesert, that he feels the Emperor's 
situation to be one of insecurity and hazard. He said that 
it remained to be seen whether it was possible that a Govern- 
ment could be maintained permanently in France on the 
principle of the total suppression of civil and political lib- 
erty, which had the support of the masses, but which was 
abhorred and opposed by all the elevated and educated 
classes. The limbs of the body politic are with the Emperor, 
and the head against him. 

Fehmary 11th. — Parliament met again last night. Lord 
Derby threw off in the Lords by asking Lord Aberdeen what 
the Government meant to do, which Aberdeen awkwardly 
and foolishly enough declined to give any answer to. The 
scene was rather ridiculous, and not creditable, I think, to 
Aberdeen. He is unfortunately a very bad speaker at all 
times, and, what is worse in a Prime Minister, has no readi- 



34 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. II. 

ness whatever. Lord Lansdowne would have made a very 
pretty and dexterous flourish, and answered the question. 
Lord John did announce in the House of Commons what 
the Government mean to do and not to do, but tliey say he 
did it ill, and it was very flat, not a hrilliant throw-ofl at all. 
February IQth. — Yesterday Cowley arrived from Paris. 
He called on me, and gave me an account of the state of 
things there and some curious details about the Emperor's 
marriage and his abortive matrimonial projects. He con- 
firms the account of Louis Napoleon's position set forth in 
Madame de Montijo's letter. The effect of his marriage has 
been very damaging everywhere, and the French people were 
not at all pleased at his calling himself a "parvenu," which 
mortified their vanity, inasmuch as they did not like to 
appear as having thrown themselves at the feet of a parvenu. 
For some time before the marriage was declared, Cowley, 
from what he saw and the information he received, began 
to suspect it would take place, and reported it to John 
Eussell. Just about this time Walewski went to Paris, and 
when Cowley saw him he told him so. Walewski expressed 
the greatest surprise as well as mortification, and imparted 
to Cowley that a negotiation had been and still was going 
on for the Emperor's marriage with the Princess Adelaide 
of Hohenlohe, the Queen's niece, at that time and still with 
the Queen in England. This was begun by Lord Malmes- 
bury, and the Emperor had regularly proposed to her through 
her father. A very civil answer had been sent by the 
Prince, in which he said that he would not dispose of his 
daughter's hand without her consent, and that he had re- 
ferred the proposal to her, and she should decide for herself. 
The Queen had behaved very well, and had abstained from 
giving any advice or expressing any opinion on the subject. 
They were then expecting the young Princess's decision. 
This being the case, Cowley advised Walewski to exert his 
influence to stop the demonstrations that were going on 
between the Emperor and Mile, de Montijo, which might 
seriously interfere with this plan. The next day Walewski 
told Cowley that he had seen the Emperor, who took him 
by both hands, and said, "Mon cher, je suis pris," and then 
told him he had resolved to marry Mile, de Montijo. How- 
ever, on Walewski representing the state of the other affair, 
he agreed to wait for the Princess Adelaide's answer, but 
said, if it was unfavorable, he would conclude the other 



1853.] MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON III. 35 

affair, but if the Princess accepted him he would marry 
her. The day following the answer came : very civil, but 
declining on the ground of her youth and inexperience, and 
not feeling equal to such a position. The same day the 
Emperor proposed to the Empress. Cowley says he is evi- 
dently much changed since his marriage, and that he is 
conscious of his unpopularity and the additional insecurity 
in which it has involved his position. 

February IWi. — Lord Cowley told me something more 
about the marriage. He saw the Queen on Thursday (17th), 
who told him all about it. The first step was taken by Morny, 
who wrote to Malmesbury, and requested him to propose it, 
stating that the Emperor's principal object in it was to 
"resserrer les liens entre les deux pays." Malmesbury 
accordingly wrote to the Queen on the subject. She was an- 
noyed, justly considering that the proposal, with the reason 
given, placed her in a very awkward situation, and that it 
ought not to have been mentioned to her at all. The result 
was what has been already stated, but with this difference, 
that the Queen set her face against the match, although the 
girl, if left to herself, would have accepted the offer. How- 
ever, nobody knows this, and they are very anxious these 
details should not transpire. The two accounts I have given 
of this transaction seem to me to afford a good illustration 
of the uncertainty of the best authenticated historical state- 
ments. Nothing could appear more to be relied on than the 
accuracy of Cowley's first account to me, and if I had not 
seen him again, or if he had not imparted to me his conver- 
sation with the Queen, that account would have stood un- 
corrected, and an inaccurate version of the story would have 
been preserved, and might hereafter have been made public, 
and, unless corrected by some other contemporaneous narra- 
tive, would probably have been taken as true. The matter 
in itself is not very important, but such errors unquestion- 
ably are liable to occur in matters of greater moment, and 
actually do occur, fully justifying the apocryphal character 
which has been ascribed to almost every historical work.^ 

The Queen seems to be intensely curious about the Court 
of France and all details connected with it, and on the other 
hand Louis Napoleon has been equally curious about the 

1 [Turtlier details with reference to the marriage of the Emperor will be found 
in Lord Malmesbury Memoirs, vol. i. pp. 374 an(i 378, which confirm Mr. Gre- 

villc's narrative.] 



36 KEIGN OP QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. U. 

etiquette observed in the English Court, and desirous of as- 
similating his to ours, which in great measure he appears to 
have done. 

Last night there was the first field day in the House 
of Commons, Disraeli having made an elaborate and bitter 
attack on the Government, but especially on Charles "Wood 
and Graham, under the pretence of asking questions respect- 
ing our foreign relations, and more particularly with France.^ 
His speech was very long, in most parts very tiresome, but 
with a good deal of ability, and a liberal infusion of that 
sarcastic vituperation which is his great forte, and which 
always amuses the House of Commons more or less. It was, 
however, a speech of devilish malignity, quite reckless and 
shamelessly profligate ; for the whole scope of it was, if pos- 
sible, to envenom any bad feeling that may possibly exist 
between France and England, and, by the most exaggerated 
representations of the offence given by two of the Ministers 
to the French Government and nation, to exasperate the 
latter, and to make it a point of honor with them to resent 
it, even to the extent of a quarrel with us. Happily its 
factious violence was so great as to disgust even the people 
on his own side, and the French Government is too really 
desirous of peace and harmony to pay any attention to the 
rant of a disappointed adventurer, whose motives and object 
are quite transparent. 

February 20th. — Disraeli's speech on Friday night was 
evidently a political blunder, which has injured him in the 
general opinion, and disgusted his own party. It is as- 
serted that he communicated his intention to his followers, 
who disapproved of it, but he nevertheless persisted. The 
speech itself was too long ; it was dull and full of useless 
truisms in the first part, but clever and brilliant in the last ; 
and his personalities were very smart and well aimed ; but 
there was not a particle of truth and sincerity in it ; it was a 
mere vituperation and factious display, calculated to do 
mischief if it produced any effect at all, and quite unbecom- 
ing a man who had just been a Minister of the Crown and 
leader of the House of Commons, and who ought to have 

1 [Sir Charles "Wood, President of the Board of Control, made a speech to his 
constituents at Halifax on February 3, in which he commented in severe lan- 
guage on the despotic character of' the Imperial Government of France. The 
speech was thought to be unbecoming in the mouth of a Cabinet minister, _ and 
Sir Charles apologized for it. But Mr. Disraeli made it the subject of a fierce 
attack in the House of Commons.] 



1853.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL LEAVES THE FOREIGN OFFICE. 37 

been animated by higher motives and more patriotic views. 
This was what the more sensible men of the party felt, and 
Tom Baring, the most sensible and respectable of the Derby- 
ites, and the man of the greatest weight among them, told 
me himself that he was so much disgusted that he was on the 
point of getting up to disavow him, and it is much to be 
regretted, as I told him, that such a rebuke was not admin- 
istered from such a quarter. It does not look as if the 
connection between Disraeli and the party could go on long. 
Their dread and distrust of him and his contempt of them 
render it difficult if not impossible. Pakington is already 
talked of as their leader, and some think Disraeli wants to 
shake them off and trade on his own bottom, trusting to 
his great abilities to make his way to political power with 
somebody and on some principles, about neither of which 
he would be very nice. Tom Baring said to me last night, 
*' Can't you make room for him in this Coalition Govern- 
ment ? " I said, " Why, will you give him to us ? " " Oh, 
yes," he said, " you shall have him with pleasure." 

liord John Russell has taken leave of the Foi-eign Office, 
and has had an interview with the Queen and Prince, satis- 
factory to both. Hhe has been all along considerably an- 
noyed at the arrangement made about his taking the Foreign 
Office only to quit it, and his leading the House of Com- 
mons without any office, which she fancies is unconstitu- 
tional, and the arrangement was announced in the news- 
papers without any proper communication to her. The 
consequence has been some little soreness on both sides, but 
this has now been all removed by explanations and amicable 
communication. The Queen attacked him on the constitu- 
tional ground, but here elle Va pris par son fort, and he 
easily bowled over this objection.^ Then she expressed her 
fear lest it should be drawn into a precedent, which might 
be inconvenient in other cases, to which he replied that he 
thought there was little fear of anybody wishing to follow 
the precedent of a man taking upon himself a vast amount 
of labor without any pay at all. Then she said that a man 
independent of office might consider himself independent 
of the Crown also, and postpone its interests to popular re- 

> [The objection taken by Her Majesty was to Lord .Tolm Eussell's proposal that 
he should retain his seat in the Cabinet and the leadcrsliip of the House of Com- 
mons without holding any special oflfice in the Government. But in fact, as a 
Privy Councillor of the Crown, a Minister, with or without office, is under pre- 
cisely the same obligations to the Sovereign and to Parliament.] 



38 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. II. 

qiiirements ; which he answered by saying that he did not 
think any Minister, as it was, thought very mnch of the 
Crown as contradistinguished from the people, and that he 
was not less likely to take such a part as she apprehended 
by holding an office of £5,000 a year, from which a vote of 
the House of Commons could at any moment expel him. 
He appears to have satisfied them both, and to be satisfied 
himself, which is still more important. 

February 2oth. — The Jew question and the Maynooth 
question have been got over in the House of Commons with- 
out much debate, but by small majorities. The most re- 
markable incident was young Stanley^ voting with the ma- 
jority in both questions, and speaking on Maynooth, and 
well. As he is pretty sure to act a conspicuous part, it is 
good to see him taking a wise and liberal line. Disraeli 
voted for the Jews but did not speak, which was very base 
of him. Last night I met Tomline at dinner, who is a 
friend of his, and told me a great deal about him. He has a 
good opinion of him, that is, that he has a good disposition, 
but his personal position perverts him in great measure. 
He says he dislikes and despises Derby, thinks him a good 
" Saxon" speaker and nothing more, has a great contempt 
for his party, particularly for Pakington, whom they seem 
to think of setting up as leader in his place. The man in 
the House of Commons whom he most fears as an opponent 
is Gladstone. He has the highest ojjinion of his ability, and 
he respects Graham as a statesman. Tomline told me that 
his system of attacking the late Sir Eobert Peel was settled 
after this manner. "When the great schism took place, three 
of the seceders went to Disraeli (Miles, Tyrrel, and a third 
whom I have forgotten), and proposed to him to attack and 
vilify Peel regularly, but with discretion ; not to fatigue and 
disgust the House, to make a speech against him about once 
a fortnight or so, and promised if he would that a constant 
and regular attendance of a certain number of men should 
be there to cheer and support him, remarking that nobody 
was ever efficient in the House of Commons without this 
support certain.® He desired twenty minutes to consider 

1 [The present Earl of Derby, who succeeded his father as fifteenth Earl in 
1S69. He entered public life as Under Secretary of State for Foreign Afiairs in 
1852.] 

^ [This anecdote is related on the authority of Mr. Tomline as stated in the 
text. It was mentioned in the lifetime of Lord Beaconsfield, and in justice to 
him it must be said that he altogether denied the truth of the story.] 



1853.] WHIG MALCONTExXTS. 39 

of this offer, and finally accepted it. "We have seen the re- 
sult, a curious beginning of an important political career, 
now they dread and hate him, for they koow in his heart he 
has no sympathy with them, and that he has no truth or 
sincerity in his conduct or speeches, and would throw them 
over if he thought it his interest. 

March 1st. — The Government seem upon the whole to be 
going on prosperously. They have at present no difficulty 
in the House of Commons, where there is no disposition to 
oppose their measures, and an appearance of moderation 
generally, which promises an easy Session. John Russell 
has spoken well, and seems to have recovered a great share 
of tlie popularity he had lost. Aberdeen has done very well 
in the House of Lords, his answers to various "questions" 
having been discreet, temperate, and Judicious ; in short, up 
to this time the horizon is tolerably clear. On the other 
hand the divisions have presented meagre majorities, and the 
Government have no poivei' in the House of Commons, and 
live on the good-will or forbearance of the several fractions 
of which it is composed. John Russell is in his heart not 
satisfied with his present position, and not animated with 
any spirit of zeal or cordiality, though he is sure to act hon- 
estly and fairly the part he has undertaken. 'J^here is still a 
good deal of lurking discontent and resentment on the jiart 
of those who were left out, and of the Whig party generally, 
who are only half reconciled to following the banner of a 
Peelite premier ; of the malcontents the principal are Car- 
lisle and Clanricarde, who are both in different ways very 
sore ; Normanby is dissatisfied, Laboucliere, Seymour, and 
George Grey not pleased, but except Clanricarde none have 
shown any disposition to withhold their support from the 
Government, or even to carp at them. Aberdeen seems to 
have no notion of being anything but a real Prime Minister. 
He means to exercise a large influence in the management 
of foreign affairs, which he considers to be the peculiar, if 
not exclusive, province of himself and Clarendon. Palmer- 
ston does not interfere with them at all, but he must do so, 
if any important questions arise for the Cabinet to decide, 
and then it is very likely some dissension will be the conse- 
quence. There are four ex-Secretaries for Foreign Affairs in 
this Cabinet, all of whom will naturally take part in any dis- 
cussion of moment. Argyll began rather unluckily, running 
his head indiscreetly against Ellenborough on an Indian pe- 



40 REIGN OP QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IL 

tition. He is burning with impatience to distingaisli him- 
self, and broke out too soon, and out of season ; but he was 
not unconscious of his error, and it will probably be of use 
to him to have met with a little check at his outset, and 
teach him to be more discreet. He spoke again last night, 
and very well, on the Clergy reserves, when there was a 
brilliant passage of arms in the Lords, in which Lord Derby 
and the Bishops of Exeter and Oxford distinguished them- 
selves. 

News came by telegraph last night that the dispute be- 
tween Turkey and Austria is settled, which will relieve us 
from a great difficulty. If it had gone on, we should have 
had a difficult part to" play, and unluckily the good under- 
standing that was reviving between us and Vienna has all 
been upset by the late attempt on the Emperor's life,^ which 
has thrown the Austrians into a ferment, and renewed all 
their bitter resentment against us for harboring Kossuth and 
Mazzini, to whom they attribute both the emeiite at Milan 
and the assassination at Vienna severally. They are no doubt 
right about Mazzini and wrong about Kossuth, but fortu- 
nately for us the first is not in England and has been abroad 
for some time, and it will probably be impossible to bring 
any evidence against Kossuth to connect him with the Hun- 
garian assassin. But these troubles and attempts, the origin 
of which is attributed to men residmg here, and, though 
neglected by the Government, more or less objects of popu- 
lar favor and sympathy, render all relations of amity impos- 
sible between our Government and theirs, and the disunion 
is aggravated by our absurd meddling with such cases as the 
Madiai and Murray at Florence and at Rome, which are no 
concern of ours, and which our Government does in compli- 
ance with Protestant bigotry. What makes our conduct the 
more absurd is that we do more harm than good to the ob- 
jects of our interest, for no Government can, with any regard 
to its own dignity and independence, yield to our dictation 
and impertinent interference. The Grand Duke of Tuscany 
said that the Madiai would have been let out of prison long 
ago but for our interference. John Eussell's published let- 
ter on" this subject, which was very palatable to the public, 

1 [The Emperor of Austria was stribTDed in the neck on February 18, by 
Joseph Lisbeny, on the ramparts of Vienna, fortunately without serious conse- 
quences. The" assassin had not the remotest connection with anyone in this 
country.] 



1853.] AUSTRIAN OPPRESSION IN ITALY. 41 

was as objectionable as possible, and quite as insolent and 
presumptuous as any Palmerston used to write. 

Last night the Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio came here. 
He was Prime Minister in Piedmont till replaced by Count 
Cavour, and is come to join his nephew, who is Minister here. 
He is a tall, thin, digniiied-looking man, with very pleasing 
manners. He gave us a shocking account of the conduct of 
the Austrians at Milan in consequence of the recent outbreak. 
Their tyranny and cruelty have been more like the deeds 
in the middle ages than those in our own time ; wantonly 
putting people to death without trial or even the slightest 
semblance of guilt, plundering and confiscating, and in every 
respect acting in a manner equally barbarous and impolitic. 
They have thrown away a good opportunity of improving 
their own moral status in Italy, and completely played the 
game of their enemies by increasing the national hatred 
against them tenfold. If ever France finds it her interest 
to go to war,^ Italy will be her mark, for she will now find 
the whole population in her favor, and would be joined by 
Sardinia, who would be too hapj^y to revenge her former 
reverses with French aid ; nor would it be possible for this 
country to support Austria in a war to secure that Italian 
dominion which she has so monstrously abused. 

March 3d. — Lord Aberdeen has gained great credit by 
making Mr. Jackson, Eector of St. James's, Bishop of Lin- 
coln. He is a man without political patronage or connec- 
tion, and with no recommendation but his extraordinary 
merit both as a parish pi'iest and a preacher. Such an 
appointment is creditable, wise, and popular, and will 
strengthen the Government by conciliating the moderate 
and sincere friends of the Church. 

The Duke of Bedford writes to me about his papers and 
voluminous correspondence, which he has been thinking of 
overhauling and arranging, but he shrinks from such a 
laborious task. He says : " With respect to my political cor- 
respondence, it has been unusually interesting and remark- 
able. I came so early into public life, have been so mixed 
up with everything, have known the political chief of my own 
party so intimately, and of the Tory party also to a limited 
extent, that there is no great affair of my own time I liave 
not been well acquainted with." This is very true, and his 

1 [Remarkable prediction, verified in 1859.] 



42 REIGJf OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IL 

correspondence, whenever it sees the light, will be more 
interesting, and contribute more historical information, than 
that of any other man who has been engaged in public life. 
The papers of Peel and of the Duke of Wellington may be 
more important, but I doubt theirs being more interesting, 
because the Duke of Bedford's will be of a more miscellane- 
ous and comprehensive character ; and though his abilities 
are not of a very high order, his judgment is sound, his mind 
is unprejudiced and candid, and he is a sincere worshipper 
of truth. 

For the last few days John Russell has been kept away 
from the House of Commons by the death of the Dowager 
Duchess of Bedford, when Palmerston has been acting as 
leader, taking that post as naturally and undoubtedly be- 
longing to him, and his right to it being entirely acquiesced 
in by his colleagues of both camps. They say that he has 
given great satisfaction to the House, where he is regarded 
with the same favor and inclination as heretofore, and per- 
sonally much more acceptable than Lord John. Cobden 
dined with John Eussell the other day, and, what is more 
remarkable, Bessborough told me he met Eoden at dinner 
the other day at the Castle at Dublin, St. G-ermans and he 
on very good-humored terms. These are striking examples 
of the compatibility of the strongest political difference with 
social amenities. Cobden, however, is not in regular oppo- 
sition to the Government, but in great measure a supporter. 

March 10th. — I met M. de Flahault last night, just re- 
turned from Paris. He said that he found there a rancor 
and violence against us among the Austrians, and Eussians 
and Prussians no less, quite inconceivable. He talked to 
them all and represented to them the absurdity of their sup- 
positions and exigencies, but without the slightest effect ; he 
found the Emperor, however, in a very different frame of 
mind, understanding perfectly the position of the English 
Government, and completely determined to maintain his 
alliance with us, and not to yield to the tempting cajolery 
of the Continental Powers, who want him to make common 
cause with them against us. Such is their madness and 
their passion, and such the necessity, real or fancied, in which 
they are placed by the revolutionary fire which is still smoul- 
dering everywhere, and their own detestable misgovernment 
(at least that of Austria, which the others abet), that they 
are ready to co-operate with France in coercing and weaken- 



1853.] ALLIANCE OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND. 43 

ing us, and to sacrifice all the great and traditional policy of 
Europe, in order to wage war against the stronghold and 
only asylum of constitutional princii^les and government. 

Flahault said that the Emperor has had an opportunity 
of placing himself in the first year of his reign in a situation 
which was the great object of his uncle's life, and which he 
never could attain. He might have been at the head of a 
European league against us, for these powers have signified 
to him their willingness to follow him in such a crusade, the 
Emperor of Russia and he being on the best terms, and a 
cordial interchange of letters having. taken place between 
them. But Napoleon has had tlie wisdom and the magna- 
nimity to resist the bait, to decline these overtures, and to 
resolve on adherence to England. Flahault said that he had 
had an audience, at which he frankly and freely told the 
Emperor his own opinion, not being without apprehension 
that it would be unpalatable to him, and not coincident 
with his own views. While he was talking to him, he saw 
him smile, which he interpreted into a sentiment that he 
(Flahault) was too Ewjlisli for him in his language and opin- 
ions, and he said so. The Emperor said, "1 smiled because 
you so exactly expressed my own opinions," and then he told 
him that he took exactly the same view of what his true 
policy was that Flahault himself did. Flahault suggested to 
him that, in spite of the civilities shown him by the North- 
ern Powers, they did not, and never would, consider him as 
one of themselves, and they only wanted to make him the 
instrument of their policy or their vengeance ; and he re- 
minded him that while England had at once recognized him, 
they were not only in no hurry to do so, but if England had 
not recognized him as she did, he would not have been rec- 
ognized by any one of those Powers to this day, all which 
he acknowledged to be true. 

The prevailing feeling against England which Flahault 
found at Paris has been proved on innumerable occasions. 
Clarendon is well aware of it, and does his best, but with 
very little success, to bring the foreign Ministers and others 
to reason. Madame de Lievcn writes to me in this strain, 
and. even liberal and intelligent foreigners like Alfred Po- 
tocki, who has been accused of being a rebel in Austria, 
writes that we ought to expel the refugees. At Vienna the 
people are persuaded that there is some indirect and unde- 
fiuable participation on the part of the British Government 



44 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. II. 

in the insurrectionary and homicidal acts of Milan and 
Vienna, and they have got a story that the assassin Liheny 
had a letter of Palmerston's in his shoe. Unreasonable as 
all this is, we ought to make great allowance for their ex- 
cited feelings, for they have a case against us of a cumulative 
character. It goes back a long way, and embraces many 
objects and details, and is principally attributable to Palmer- 
ston, partly to his doings, and jierhaps more to his sayings. 
They can not forget that he has long been the implacable 
enemy of Austria, that he advised her renunciation of her 
Italian dominions, and that he and his agents have always 
sympathized with, and sometimes aided and abetted, most of 
the revolutionary movements that have taken place. Then 
there was the Haynau affair, and the lukewarmness and in- 
difference which the Government of that day, and Palmer- 
ston particularly, exhibited about it ; then the reception of 
Kossuth, the public meetings and his speeches, together 
with the speeches at them of Cobden and others of which 
no notice was ever taken, and finally the transaction about 
Palmerston's receiving Kossuth and his famous answer to the 
addresses presented to him from Finsbury and Islington. 
All these things satisfy the foreign Governments that we are 
not only politically but nationally their enemies, and that 
we harbor their rebellious subjects out of hatred to them, 
and that we regard with sympathy and a secret satisfaction 
the plots which they concoct in safety here and go forth to 
execute abroad. And wlien they are told that our laws 
afford these people an asylum, which no Government has 
the power to deny them, and that Parliament and public 
opinion will not consent to arm the Government with the 
powers of restraint or coercion they do not possess, they only 
exjDlode the more loudly in denunciations against that free 
and constitutional system which is not only a perpetual re- 
proach, but, as they think, a source of continual danger to 
their own. So much for foreign affairs. 

At home, while the political sky is still serene enough, 
there are some rocks ahead, and I think the Government in 
peril from more than onfe cause. First and foremost there 
is the Indian question. There is something ominous in the 
conjunction between a Caalition Government and an India 
Bill, and if they don't take care, they will get into a scrape.* 

1 [The Charter of the East India Company heiua: about to expire, Sir Charles 
Wood, the President of the Board of Control, introduced in an elaborate speech 



1853.] THE INDIAN QUESTION. 45 

The Opposition is broken and disorganized, and at present 
there is no disposition on the jmrt of the extreme Liberals to 
join in any strong measures against the Government ; but 
this is a question on which all the scattered fractions might 
be made easily to combine, and there are already symptoms 
of a possible combination ad hoc in the Indian Committee of 
the House of Commons. Lowe is very much dissatisfied 
with Charles Wood, and with the intentions of Government, 
and even talks of resigning ; and the "Times" is going into 
furious opposition on the Indian question, and is already 
attacking the Government for their supposed intentions. 
This, therefore, is assuming a serious aspect. There is 
besides the Budget and the difficulty of the Income Tax, 
and these two questions are enough to put them in great 
perplexity. 

March lOih. — The question of Indian government and the 
renewal of the Charter is every day increasing in importance 
and attracting more and more of public attention. It is a 
matter of great difficulty for the Government to deal with. 
They are threatened by enemies, and pressed by friends and 
half friends, who want them to postpone any measure for 
another year or two years. They, on the contrary, stand 
pledged, and think they ought to propose something this 
year. It presents a field on which the various fractions of 
hostility and semi-hostility to the Government may meet 
and combine, and perhaps place them in great difficulty. 
The Committees are going on taking evidence with the 
knowledge that the Government will probably not wait for 
their several reports before proceeding to legislation. Gran- 
ville has got the management of the Government measures 
in the House of Lords, and is working very hard at Indian 
affairs. Yesterday I met at dinner at Ellice's two able men 
just arrived from India for the purpose of giving evidence, 
a Mr. Ilalliday and a Mr. Marchmont. They are for main- 
taining the present system, but with many reforms and 
alterations ; they spoke highly of Lord Dalhousie as a man 
of business. 

March 'ZUh. — As I never see Clarendon now, who is 
entirely absorbed in the duties of his office, he engaged 
me to go and dine with him alone yesterday, that we might 

a Bill for the future sroverament ot India by the Company, which changed the 
Constitution and limited the patronage of the Court of Directors. The Bill was 
finally passed on July 28.] 



46 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. H. 

have a talk about all that is going on, and he told me a 
great deal of one sort or another. I learned the state of our 
relations with France and Russia in reference to the Turkish 
business, and he gave me to read a very curious and inter- 
esting despatch (addressed to John Eussell) from Seymour, 
giving an account of a long conversation he had had with 
the Emperor Nicholas about Turkey and her prospects and 
condition, and his own intentions and opinions, which were 
amicable toward us, and very wise and moderate in them- 
selves, contemplating the dissolution of the Turkish Empire, 
disclaiming in the strongest terms any design of occupying 
Constantinople — more than that, declaring that he would 
not do it — but supposing the event to happen, not thinking 
the solution of the problem so difficult as it is generally re- 
garded. He threw out that he should have no objection, if 
a partition was ever to take place, that we should appropriate 
Egypt and Candia to ourselves. He seems to have talked 
very frankly, and he said one curious thing, which was that 
Russia was not without a revolutionary substratum, which 
was only less apparent and less menacing than in other parts 
because he possessed greater means of repression, but never- 
theless that the seeds were there. It is lucky Dundas is a 
prudent man, and refused to carry his fleet up to the vicinity 
of the Dardanelles at Rose's invitation, or mischief might 
have ensued. As it is, we disapprove of Rose's proceedings 
and have approved Dundas's, at the same time ordering him 
not to move without express orders from home, and more- 
over Clarendon refused to give Stratford Canning any discre- 
tionary authority to send for the fleet (though it was after- 
ward given), which he had asked to be entrusted with. 
Clarend'.n is much dissatisfied with the conduct of the 
French Government, who were in a great hurry to send off 
their flt ^, and they sent orders to sail on the mere report of 
what Rose had done, and without waiting to learn the result 
of his application to the Admiral ; and they did this, although 
they knew the despatches were on the road, and that a very 
few hours would put them in possession of the actual state 
of the case. Moreover, Cowley moved heaven and earth to 
induce Drouyn de Lhuys to withdraw the order to sail, but 
without effect. They persisted in it, after they knew we 
were not going to stir, and Cowley could not see the Em- 
peror, who he says was evidently avoiding any communica- 
tion with him. Still very friendly language continues to 



1853.] THE EASTERN QUESTION. 47 

pass between us, and our Government are inclined to attrib- 
ute this unwise proceeding to the vanity of the French, their 
passion for doing something, and above all the inexperience 
and want of savoir faire in high matters of diplomacy of the 
Emperor and his ministers. There is not one among them 
who is fit to handle such delicate and important questions, 
the Emperor, who governs everything by his own will, less 
than any ; and Drouyn de Lhuys, who has been for many 
years engaged more or less in the Foreign Office, is a very 
poor and inefficient minister. 

Clarendon told me he had seen Brunnow, and after reca- 
pitulating to him all the various causes for alarm, resting on 
facts or on rumors, especially with regard to Russia and her 
intentions, he said that our Government had received the 
word of honor of the Emperor that he had no sinister or hos- 
tile intentions, and disclaimed ihose that had been imputed 
to him, and that on his word they relied with such implicit 
confidence that he had not the slightest fear of disquietude. 
Brunnow was exceedingly pleased, and said that was the way 
to treat the Emperor, who would be excessively gratified, 
nothing being dearer to him than the confidence and good 
opinion of this country, and he said he would send off a cou- 
rier the next day, and Clarendon should dictate his despatch. 
The instructions given to Menschikoff have been enormously 
exaggerated, the most serious and offensive parts Ihat have 
been stated (the nomination of the Greek Patriarch, etc.) being 
totally false. ^ I asked what they were, and he said nothing but 

1 [While these pacific assurances were tjiven in London, Pijinoe Menschikoff 
arrived in Constantinople on March 2, and commenced that arroo;ant and ag- 
gressive policy which led in tlie course of the year to hostilities between Russia 
and the Forte. It has, however, only recently transpired, by the p, blication of 
Lord Malmesbury's " Memoirs " (vol. i. p. 402), tliat when the Emjieror Nich- 
olas came to England in 1844, he, Sir Robert Peel, then Prime \ 'inister, the 
Duke of Wellington, and Lord Aberdeen, then Foreign Secretary, 3W up and 
signed a Memorandum, the spirit and scope of which was to support Russia in 
her legitimate protection of the Greek religion and the holy shrines, and to do 
so without consulting France. To obtain this agreement was doubtless the ob- 
ject of the Emperor' js journey. It bore his own" personal signature. The exist- 
ence of this Memorandum was a profound secret known only to the Queen and 
to tho«e Ministers who held in succession the seals of the Foreign Department, 
each of whom transmitted it privately to his successor. Lord Malmesbury re- 
ceived the document from Lord Granville, and on leaving office in 1853 handed 
it to Lord John Russell. This fact, hitherto unknown, throws an entirely new 
liixht on the causes of the Crimean War. The Emperor of Russia naturally 
relied on the support of the very ministers who had signed the agreement and 
were again in power, while Lord Aberdeen was conscious of having entered 
into an engagement wholly at variance with the course of policy into which he 
was reluctantly driven. — H. R.] 



48 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. II. 

a string of conditions about shrines and other ecclesiastical 
trifles. Walewski seems to hare done well here, condemning 
the conduct of his own Government, and not concealing from 
them his own opinion, and entirely going along with us. It 
was on Saturday night that the courier arrived with Rose's 
and Dundas's despatches, and a few of the Cabinet met on 
Sunday at the Admiralty to talk the matter over. Clarendon 
sent for John Russell from Richmond, and he thought it 
advisable to summon Palmerston to thisconciliabule, to keep 
him in good humor, which it had the effect of doing. There 
were himself, Palmerston, John Russell, Aberdeen, and 
Graham. He had written to Lord John on Saturday night, 
and sent him the despatches ; he got an answer from him, 
full of very wild talk of strong measures to be taken, and a 
fleet sent to the Baltic to make peremj^tory demands on the 
Emperor of Russia. This, however, he took no notice of, 
and did not say one word to Aberdeen about it, quietly 
letting it drop, and accordingly he heard no more about it, 
nobody, he said, but me, knowing what Lord John had pro- 
posed. I asked him what were Palmerston's views. He re- 
plied that he did not say much, and acquiesced in his and 
Aberdeen's prudent and reserved intentions, but he could 
see, from a few words that casually escaped him, that he 
would have been ready to Join in more stringent and violent 
measures if they had been proposed. His hatred of Russia 
is not extinguished, but as it was, there was no expressed 
difference of opinion, and a general agreement. He said he 
had had a prejudice against Gladstone, but he now liked him 
very much, and Granville had already told me the same thing. 
Aberdeen likes his post and enjoys the consciousness of hav- 
ing done very well in it. He is extremely liberal, but of a 
wise and well-reasoned liberality. As it has turned out, he 
is far fitter for the post he occupies than Lansdowne would 
have been, both morally and physically. 

The Queen is devoted to this Government, and expressed 
to Aberdeen the liveliest apprehension lest they should get 
themselves into some scrape with the India Bill, and en- 
treated he would run no risks in it. Aberdeen, in announc- 
ing this one day to the Cabinet, said that the best thing for 
them to do was to bring forward a measure of so liberal and 
popular a character as to make any serious opposition im- 
possible. Clarendon agreed in this, and I told him that this 
had long been my own idea, and that what they ought to do 



1853.] THE ROYAL CHILDREN. 49 

was to throw open the civil and military appointments to 
competition, and to grant appointments after examination 
to qualified candidates, just as degrees are given at the uni- 
versities. We passed the whole evening together, talking 
over all matters of interest, and lie told me everything he 
knew himself. 

April Uh. — I went to Al thorp last week, and returned 
for a Council on Friday. After it Graham and I stayed be- 
hind, when he talked about the Government and their pros- 
pects', which he thought pretty good ; they were going on 
in great harmony, and the greater, he thought, because they 
had originally had such diversities of opinion. This led to 
a disposition "to mutual concession, and feelings of delicacy 
toward each other. The Queen is extremely attached to 
Aberdeen, more than to any minister slie had ever had. 
Lord John's position anomalous and unsatisfactory, and al- 
ways a question whether he would not become disgusted and 
back out. Graham said that Clarendon was doing admirably 
— better than he had anticipated. 

Lady Lyttelton, whom I met at Althorp. told me a great 
deal about the Queen and her children ; nothing particularly 
interesting. She said the Queen was very fond of them, but 
severe in her manner, and a strict disciplinarian in her 
family. She described the Prince of Wales to be extremely 
shy and timid, with very good principles, and particularly 
an exact observer of truth ; the Princess Royal is remarkably 
intelligent. I wrote this because it will hereafter be curious 
to see how the boy grows up, and what sort of performance 
follows this promise, though I shall not live to see it. She 
spoke in very high terms of the Queen herself, of the Prince, 
and of the simplicity and happiness of her private and 
domestic life. 
3 



50 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. 



CHAPTER III. 

Weakness of the Government— Gladstone's Budget — A Conversation with Disraeli — Sui- 
cidal Conduct of the lories— Their liritadon — A Charge against Mr. Gladstone de- 
feated—The Staiford Committee — Harmony of the Government -Electoral Corruption 
Impending War — Success of the Government — Macaulay's Speech on the Judgi-s' 
Exclusion Bill — Erroneous Predictions trom Paris — Unsettled Policy as to the War — 
Lord John's Anti-Catholic Speech — The English and J-rench Fleets sail for the Darda- 
nelles — Conduct, of Austria — Kussia means V\ ar — Attacks by the Opposition— Ex- 
planations desired — Attempted Mediation — Lord Aberdeen's ConficieLce shaken - 
Divisions of Opinion — Terms of Accommodation — Lord Palmerston's Views — Prospect 
of Peace— Division in the Lords on the Succession Duties Bid— Friendly Kelations of 
Lord Palmerston and Lord iJarendon — Fears of War — Hopes of Peace— Lord x almer- 
stonand Mr. Cobden — Pejection ot tDe Vienna Note— Lord Palmerston courted by the 
Tories -Lord Johu Kusseu's Position — 'I'he Duke of Bedtord s Purt in the lasi. Crisis — 
Dangers at Constantinople — Lord Strattord s Influence — Suspected Intrigue of France 
wiih Russia — Lord Palmerston goes to Balmoral— Sir James Graham's View — Lord 
Stratford s Conduct— Importance of the Vienna Note — A Uabinet summoned. 

London, April 21st, 1853. — I have had such a bad fit of 
gout in mj hand, that I have been unable for some time past 
to write at all, though there has been plenty to write about. 
The Government has been sustaining defeats in the House 
of Commons on detached questions of taxation, much to 
their annoyance and embarrassment, and which were more 
serious from the inference to be drawn from them than 
for their intrinsic importance. They were caused by the 
meddling and absurd crotchets of some of their friends, and 
the malignity and unprincipled conduct of their enemies: 
the first bringing forward motions for reduction of certain 
items, merely to gratify clients or constituents, and the 
Tories joining with the Radicals in voting for things which 
they opposed when they were themselves in oflBce, reckless 
of consistency or of consequences. But the whole affair 
was unpleasant, as it displayed strikingly how little author- 
ity the Government has over the House of Commons, and 
the difficulty, if not impossibility, of carrying on the service 
of the country. 

These little battles were, however, of little moment com- 
pared with the great event of Gladstone's Budget, which 
came off on Monday night. He had kept his secret so well, 
that nobody had the least idea what it was to be, only it 
oozed out that the Income Tax was not to be differentiated. 
He spoke for five hours, and by universal consent it was one 
of the grandest displays and most able financial statement 
that ever was heard in the House of Commons ; a great 
scheme, boldly, skilfully, and honestly devised, disdaining 



1853.] MR. GLADSTONE'S BUBGET. 51 

popular clamor and pressure from without, and the execu- 
tion of it absolute perfection. Even those who do not ad- 
mire the Budget, or who are injured by it, admit the merit 
of the performance. It has raised Gladstone to a great 
political elevation, and, what is of far greater consequence 
than the measure itself, has given the country assurance of 
a man equal to great political necessities, and fit to lead 
parties and direct governments. 

April 22d.—l met Gladstone last night, and had the pleas- 
ure of congratulating him and his wife, which I did with 
great smcerity, for his success is a public benefit. They 
have been overwhelmed with compliments and congratula"- 
tions. Prince Albert and the Queen both wrote to him, and 
John Russell, who is spitefully reported to have been Jealous, 
has, on the contrary, shown the warmest interest and satis- 
faction in his success. The only one of his colleagues who 
may have been mortified is Charles Wood, who mutt have 
compared Gladstone's ti-iumph with his own failures. Frcm 
all one can see at present, it promises certain success, though 
many parts of the Budget are cavilled at. It will be diffi- 
cult, if not impossible, to find any common ground on which 
Eadicals or Irish can join the Derbyites to overthrow it, and 
the sanguine expectations which the latter have been enter- 
taining for some time, of putting the Government into some 
inextricable fix, have given way to perplexity and depend- 
ency ; and they evidently do not know what to do, nor how 
to give effect to their rancor and spite. Lord Derby had a 
great meeting not many days ago, at which he recommended 
union, and cheered them on in opposition, of course for form's 
sake, talking of moderation and principles, neither of which 
he cares a fig for. Mischief and confusion, vengeance against 
the coalition, and taking the chance of what may happen 
next, are all that he and Disraeli are bent upon. I met the 
latter worthy in the street just before the Budget, a day or 
two previous. He asked me what I thought of the state of 
affairs, and I told him I thought it very unpleasant, and it 
seemed next to impossible to carry on the Government at all, 
everybody running riot in the House of Commons, and fol- 
lowing his own fancies and crotchets ; nor did I see how it 
could be otherwise in the present state of parties and the 
country ; that since Peel's administration, which was a strong 
Government, there had been and apparently there could be 
none. The present Government was not strong, and they 



52 RETGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IIL 

were perpetually defeated, on minor points, indeed, but in a 
way that showed they had no power to work through Parlia- 
ment. I said of course they would dissolve if this continued, 
but that Gladstone's Budget might make a difference one 
way or the otlier. Disraeli scouted the idea of a dissolution, 
by which, he said, they would certainly gain nothing. Why, 
he asked, did not the Peelites join us again, as they might 
have done, and got as good terms as they have now, and then 
there would have been a strong Government again ? As I 
don't want to quarrel with anybody, I restrained what it was 
on my lip3 to say — " You could not possibly expect them to 
join you" — but I did tell him that, even if the present Gov- 
ernment could not maintain itself, of all impossible things 
the most impossible was the restoration of his Government 
tale quale, to which he made no reply. To be sure, the Pro- 
tectionist seceders from Peel have now drunk the cup of 
mortification, disgrace, and disaster Lo the very dregs. They 
are a factious and (as I hope) impotent Opposition, under the 
unprincipled guidanca of men, who, clever and plausible 
though they be, are totally destitute of wisdom, sincerity, 
and truth. They have not only lost all the Protection for 
the maintenance of which they made such struggles and 
sacrifices, but they have likewise brought upon themselves 
the still heavier blow to the landed interest which is going 
to be inflicted in the shape of the legacy duty. Had they 
possessed more foresight, and been less violent and unreason- 
able, this would not have happened to them ; for if Peel's 
original Government had held together, and they had been 
content to accept his guidance, no Budget would have con- 
tained this measure. Schemes might have been devised to 
lighten their burdens, or to increase the compensations they 
really have obtained in other ways ; but, be this as it may, 
they would certainly have been saved from this direct im- 
post, which I doubt if Peel himself ever contemplated, but 
which he would certainly have spared them if they had not 
deserted him, nor would his successors have departed from 
his policy in this respect. But from first to last their con- 
duct has been suicidal in every respect. 

May 3d. — The Government is going on very flourishing- 
Iv. A capital division in the House of Lords on the Canada 
Clergy Eeserves Bill,^ on which occasion there was a scene 

1 [This was a Bill abolishing the title of the Protestant Clergy to certain por- 
tions of waste lands in the Colony.] 



1853.] THE GOVERNMENT'S VICTORIES. 53 

between Derby and Clarendon, in which both were, to my 
mind, in the wrong. The whole affair appears in all the 
newspapers, bnt what does not appear is the rather absnrd 
termination of it, when, after much excitement and strong 
language interchanged, the belligerents ended by drinking 
each other's healths in water across the table. The victory 
in the Lords has been followed up by one still more impor- 
tant in the House of Commons on the Income Tax, v.'hicii 
was carried by 71, a great many of the Opposition voting 
with Government, much to the disgust of their friends. 
These divisions have tilled the Derbyites with rago and de- 
spair, and nothing can exceed their depression and their 
abuse of the Budget and its authors. ^Vhat vexes and pro- 
vokes them so much is the ascendency and triumph of the 
Peelites. They could endure it in the Whigs, but their 
hatred of the name and party of Peel is inextinguishable. 

May 15th. — At Newmarket last week, during which the 
Budget was making its way very successfully through the 
House of Commons, where Gladstone has it all his own way. 
The Speaker told me he Avas doing his business there admi- 
rably well. While I was at Newmarket came out the strange 
story of Gladstone and the attempt to extort money from 
him before the police magistrate.^ It created for the mo- 
ment great surprise, curiosity, and interest, but has almost 
entirely passed away already, not having been taken up 
politically, and there being a general disjiosition to believe 
his story and to give him credit for having had no improper 
motive or purpose. Nevertheless it is a very strange affair, 
and has not yet been satisfactorily explained. It is credita- 
ble in these days of political rancor and bitterness that no 
malignant attempt has been made to vilify him by his oppo- 
nents or by the hostile part of the press. On the contrary, 
the editor of the " Morning Herald " wrote him a very hand- 
some letter in his own name and in that of the ]n'oprietor, 
assuring him of their confidence in his purity and innocence, 
and that nothing would induce them to put anything offens- 
ive to him in the paper, and they had purposely inserted 
the police report in an obscure part of the paper. It is very 
fortunate for Gladstone tnat he was not intimidated and 
tempted to give the man money, but had the courage to face 

' [An attempt had been made to extort money from Mr. Gladstone on a 
spurious eharire, wlueli he mot by instantly giving' the delinquent iuto custody 
and meeting the case at a police office.] 



54 ' REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. m. 

the world's enspicions and meet the charge in so public a 
manner. 

Tlie Stafford Committee has at length closed its proceed- 
ings, after exposures of the most disgraceful kind, which are 
enormously damaging not only to Augustus Stafford himself 
but to Lord Derby and his Government. The Duke of 
Northumberland comes clear out of it as to corruption, but 
cuts a wretched and ridiculous figure, having failed to per- 
form the duties or to exercise the authority of a First Lord 
while he was at the Admiralty. Disraeli's evidence was 
nothing but an attempt to shirk the question and involve it 
in a confusion of characteristic verbiage which only excited 
ridicule. This affair has done great harm to them as a 
party, and served to make them more odious and contempti- 
ble than they were before.^ 'J- hey are now irretrievably de- 
feated, and "though they may give much trouble and throw 
difficulties and obstructions in the way of the Government, 
it is all they can do. Every day adds to the strength and 
consistency of the Government, both from their gaining 
favor and acquiring influence in the country, and from the 
ruin in which the Tory party is involved, and the total im- 
possibility of their rallying again so as to form another Gov- 
ernment. This latter consideration has already produced 
the adhesion of some moderate and sensible men who take a 
dispassionate view of affairs and who wish for a strong and 
efficient Government, and it will produce still greater effects 
of the same kind. 

May 22d. — I met in a train a day or two ago Graham 
and the Speaker, not having seen Graham for a_ long time. 
Since my friends have been in office I have hardly ever set 
eyes on them or had any communication with them. Gra- 
ham seemed in excellent spirits about their political state 
and prospects, all owing to Gladstone and the complete 
success of his Budget. The long and numerous Cabinets, 
which were attributed by the "Times" to disunion, were 
occupied in minute consideration of the Budget, which was 
there fully discussed, and Gladstone spoke in the Cabinet 
one day for three hours, rehearsing his speech in the House 
of Commons, though not quite at such length. Graham 
again said Clarendon was doing admirably. Palmerston he 

1 [Chnrges of misconduct in the department of the Admiralty wers brought 
against Mr. Augustas Stafford, who had held office under the late Government. 
They were investigated by a Select Committee of the House of Commons.] 



1853.] "WAR ALARMS. 55 

thinks much changed and more feeble, his energy much less, 
and his best days gone by. He thinks Lord John's position 
without office an unfortunate one, and regrets he did not 
stay at the Foreign Office or take another ; he thinks his 
influence impaired by having none. He talked of a future 
Head, as Aberdeen is always ready to retire at any moment, 
but it is very difficult to find any one to succeed him. I 
suggested Gladstone. He shook his head and said it would 
not do ; and he was for John Russell, but owned there were 
difficulties there too. He considered Derby and tlie Tories 
irretrievably ruined, their characters so damaged by Stafford's 
Committee and other things ; he spoke of the grand mis- 
takes Derby had made, Gladstone's object certainly was for 
a long time to be at the head of the Conservative party in the 
House of Commons, and to join with Derby, who might, in 
fact, have had all the Peelites if he would have chosen to ally 
himself with them instead of with Disraeli ; thus the latter 
had been the cause of the ruin of the party. Graham 
thought that Derby had committed himself to Disraeli in 
George Bentinck's lifetime in some way that prevented his 
shaking him off, as it would have been his interest to do. 
The Peelites would have united with Derby, but would have 
nothing to do with Disraeli. Bad as the cases were that had 
come forth at the election committees, that of Liverpool was 
worse than any of them, and would create a great scandal. 
Forbes Mackenzie could not face it, and would probably re- 
tire ; but it is doubtful if this would prevent an inquiry and 
exposure, and when boundless corruption appeared at such 
a place as Liverpool, with its numerous constituency, it was 
a blow to the representative system itself, and showed the 
futility of attempts to destroy bribery and improper influ- 
ence. 

Ma7j SOfh. — Great alarm the last two or three days at an 
approaching rupture between Russia and Turke}^ as, if it 
takes place, nobody can pretend to say what the consequences 
may be. Vast indignation of course against the Emperor 
of Russia, who certainly appears to have departed from the 
moderate professions which he made to Seymour a short time 
ago, and the assurances that were given to us and France. 
But Clarendon, whom I saw yesterday, is rather disposed to 
give him credit for more moderate and pacific intentions 
than his conduct seems to warrant. He says that he is per- 
suaded the Emperor has no idea of the view that is taken of 



56 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. 

his proceedings here, and that he thinks he is requiring no 
more than he is entitled to; and it is only the other day 
that Nesselrode congratulated Seymour on the prospect of 
everything being satisfactorily settled, having no doubt of 
the tiirks accepting the last proposals made to them, a copy 
of which Nesselrode showed him. Still, though matters look 
very black, Clarendon is not without hopes of war being 
averted and some means found of patcliing up the affair, the 
Emperor having promised that he will in no case resort to 
ulterior measures without giving us notice of his intention. 
The difficulty for him now is to recede with honor, as it 
would be to advance without danger. He has once before 
receded after to a certain degree committing himself, and he 
may not choose to do so a second time. Then he is naturally 
provoked with the French, who are in fact the real cause of 
this by their intrigues and extortions about the holy places ; 
and we suspect that he is, besides this, provoked at the 
Montenegrin affair having been settled by Austria without 
his having a finger in that pie. All these considerations 
combined make great confusion and difficulty. Brunnow is 
in mortal agony, dreading above all things the possibility of 
his having to leave this country. 

The Governm-ent continues to go on very well ; the Op- 
position got up a debate on the legacy duties in the House 
of Lords the other night, which only served to prove how 
entirely Derby's influence has declined even there. They 
had thought themselves sure of beating the Grovernment, but 
not only were they defeated, but accident alone (people shut 
out and absent) prevented their/ being defeated by a con- 
siderable majority. The Cabinet is going on in the greatest 
harmony, and the men who were strangers up to the time 
of its formation have taken to each other prodigiously. 
Aberdeen unfortunately wants the qualities which made 
Lord Lansdowne so good a leader, and is rather deficient in 
tact and temper in the House of Lords as he used to be 
formerly, when he attacked Lord Grey's Government and 
Palmerston's administration of foreign affairs always with 
too much asperity; but in l^ite of these defects he has not 
done ill even there, and in the Cabinet he is both liked and 
respected, being honest, straightforward, and firm, very 
fair, candid, and unassuming. Granville tells me that of 
the whole Cabinet he thinks Aberdeen has the most pluck, 
Gladstone a great deal, and Graham the one who has the 



1853.] UNPOPULARITY OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. 57 

least. He speaks very well of Moleswortli, sensible, coura- 
geous, and conciliatory, but quite independent and plain- 
spoken in his opinions. 

June 1st. — John Eusscll made an imprudent speech the 
night before last on the Irish Church, giving great offence 
to the Irish and the Catholics. He could not help, as leader 
of the Government, opposing a proposition having for its 
object the destruction of the Irish Church, but he might 
have done it with more tact and discretion, and not in a way 
to elicit the cheers of the Tories. The Tail will pay him olf 
for this whenever they can. Quantum mutaius ab illo, who 
broke up a Government for the sake of an appropriation 
clause. 

Last night Macaulay reappeared in the House of Com- 
mons, and in a speech of extraordinary power and eloqiTcnce 
threw out the Judges' Exclusion Bill.^ It was the first time 
he had spoken, and though his physical strength is impaired 
he showed that his mental powers are undiminished. 

Senior called on me a day or two ago, just returned from 
Paris, where he has been living and conversing with all the 
notabilities (principally of the Liberal party), and he tells 
me there is but one opinion among them, that this Enjpire 
can not last, and they only differ as to the time it may last. 
Most of them think it will be short. Thiers gives it only a 
year, Duchatel alone thinks it will go on for some years. 
The unpopularity of Louis Napoleon increases and his dis- 
credit likewise, and as soon as the unpoftularity shall extend 
to the army, it will be all over with him. The Opjiosition 
which had sprung up, which has increased rapidly and will 
increase still more in the Corps Legislatif, is deemed to be 
very important and significant, and they think it will be 
impossible for him to go on with such a body so constituted 
and disposed, and he will have to decide upon suffering the 
embarras'^ment it will cause him, or having recourse to a 
coup cVetat, a measure which would be hazardous. There 
are no fresh adhesions to the Court beyond the half dozen 
men of rank or name who have already joined it, and who 
are hated and despised for having done so. While such is 
the opinion of the people of mark at Paris, they are never- 

> FA BUI was before Parliament which would have excluded the Master of 
the Rolls from the House of Commons, lie bcin.' the only Judtje who could sit 
there. The Jud^re of the Admiralty Court had already been excluded. Macau- 
lay opposed the Bill with such force and eloquence that he chancred the opinion 
of the House, and defeated the measure. An unusual occurrence.] 



58 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. HI. 

theless sensible of the danger which would accompany a 
conuter-revolution, and of the uncertainty of what might 
follow, what influences might prevail, and what form of 
goTernment be adopted ; but they seem generally to think 
that while in the first instance there would be a succession 
of provisional arrangements and fleeting transitory govern- 
ments, it would end in the restoration of the monarchy 
under Henri V., but that this would not take place by the 
acceptance and triumph of any divine hereditary right, but 
must be adopted by the nation and ratified by a national 
vote. 

June 5tJi.—1 saw Clarendon on Friday morning for a 
few minutes ; he takes a very gloomy view of the Eusso- 
Turkish question, and is greatly disgusted at having been 
deceived by the Emperor ; he says he is harassed to death 
with the whole affair, and with the multiplicity of business 
he has besides ; he has a difficult task to perform, taking a 
middle position in the Cabinet between the opposite opin- 
ions of those who are for more stringent measures and those 
who, like himself, are for patience and moderation. Palm- 
erston, in whom his ancient Russian antipathies are revived, 
is foi' vigor, and as in former times "leading John Russell 
by the nose,'' Clarendon and Aberdeen for moderation ; but 
he is beset by different opinions and written suggestions and 
proposals, and all this worries him exceedingly. I asked him 
how the Court was, and he said very reasonable, their opin- 
ions being influenced, of course, by Aberdeen. 

He talked with great disgust of John Russell's speech on 
the Irish Church, how unfair it was as well as unwise, and 
how reckless of the damage it caused to the Government, 
and the embarrassing and awkward situation in which he 
thereby placed many of their supporters. These are the 
general sentiments with regard to that speech, which was 
neither more nor less than speaking the Durham letter over 
again, and, considering what that famous letter cost him, 
he misfht have been expected to steer clear of such a scrape. 
But he is more than ever the creature of impulse and of 
temper, and he seems to have lost a great deal of his tact 
and discretion, and certainly he is no longer fit to be either 
head of a Government or leader of the House of Commons, 
and perhaps the latter position in such a Government as this 
suits him still less than the former would. When I came 
to town yesterday morning I found .that several of the Irish 



1853.] THE ALLIED FLEETS AT THE DARDANELLES. 59 

Koman Catholic members of the Governmeut occupying sub- 
ordinate offices (Messrs. Keogh, Mousell, and Sadleir), had 
resigned in consequence of Lord John Russell's speech, but 
an hour afterward I learned that they had been induced to 
remain by an assurance from Lord Aberdeen that Lord John 
did not express the sentiments of the Government on this 
subject. 

Charles Wood brought on the India Bill on Friday night 
in a speech of unexampled prolixity and dulness. There is 
not yet time to ascertain how the plan is likely to be received, 
but I suspect it will meet with a great deal of opposition, 
although, as it is more favorable to the existing interests than 
was expected, it will very likely pass, as, if Leadenhall Street 
was to go further, it would certainly fare worse. 

St. Leonards, June 1th. — I am here for Ascot, a lovely 
place and divine weather. The affair with the Irish has ended 
as harmlessly as anything so awkward could do. Mr. G. H. 
Moore asked some rather impertinent questions in the House 
of Commons on Monday, which Lord John answered in an 
easy, nonchalant, jesting manner. The House laughed, 
nobody said anything, and there it ended, but the Brigade 
will probably seek opportunities of showing their teeth and 
of revenging themselves on Lord John. It has been rather 
mortifying for him, but he has taken it very quietly, and 
Aberdeen's letter to Monsell was shown to him and received 
his assent. The French are behaving very well about the 
Eastern question, and 1 begin to think that it wnll in the 
end blow over, as diplomacy will probably hit upon some 
expedient for enabling the Emperor of Russia to do what 
his real interests evidently point out. 

June 13th. — I came back from Ascot on Friday, having 
mr»t Clarendon on Thursday on the course, who gave me an 
account of the state of affairs. On Saturday I met Walewski 
at dinner, and had much talk with him, and yesterday I saw 
Clarendon again. The great event has been the sailing of 
our fleet from Malta to join the French fleet at the mouth 
of the Dardanelles, to the unspeakable satisfaction of the 
French Government, who desire nothing so much as to ex- 
hibit to all Europe an entente cordiale with us ; and Walewski 
said to me that, however the affair might end, this great ad- 
vantage they had at all events obtained.'' The Emperor of 

1 [Orders were sent to Admiral Dundas on June 2 to sail for the Darda- 
nelles, and the fleet proceeded to Besika Bay, together with the French fleet.] 



60 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. 

Russia will be deeply mortified when he hears of this junc- 
tion ; for besides that it will effectually bar the approach of 
his fleet to Constantinople, if he ever contemplated it, there 
is nothing he dislikes and dreads so much as the intimate 
union of France and England. His Majesty is now so 
greatly excited that nothing can stop him, and he told Sey- 
mour the other day that he would spend his last rouble and 
his last soldier rather than give way. Still he professes that 
he aims at no more than a temporary occupation of the 
Principalities, and renounces all purpose of conquest. The 
Eussian army will therefore certainly march in, and it will 
be the business of the other Governments to restrain the 
Turks and prevent a collision, which Walewski thinks they 
can certainly do. 

Austria holds the same language that we do, but will not 
act. Clarendon sent for Count Colloredo on Saturday (who 
never hears from Buol), and set before him in detail all the 
dangers with which Austria is menaced by the possibility of 
war breaking out in the East, and above all by that of 
Erance being brought into the field in hostility with Aus- 
tria. In such a case the French would be quite unscru- 
pulous, and excite all the revolutionary spirit, which, though 
now repressed, is thickly scattered over every part of the Aus- 
trian Empire, from Milan to Hungary. Colloredo acknowl- 
edged the truth of the representation, and promised to 
report textually to Buol what Clarendon said. 

All now depends on the Emperor Nicholas himself. If 
he adheres to his determination not to advance beyond the 
Principalities, time will be afforded for negotiations, and 
some expedient may be found for enabling him to recede 
without discredit, and without danger to his own prestige at 
home. The French and English feel alike on this point, 
and are conscious that the Emperor has gone too far to 
recede. He is pushed on by an ardent and fanatical party 
in Russia, and is not entirely his own master. Both Gov- 
ernments are therefore willing to make allowance for the 
exigencies of his position, and to assist him to the uttermost 
of their power in getting honorably out of the scrape into 
which he has plunged himself and all Europe. 

June '22d. — The Opposition papers (especially the "Morn- 
ing Herald" and the "Press," Disraeli's new journal) have 
been making the most violent attacks on Aberdeen and 
Clarendon, calling for their impeachment on the ground of 



1853.] DIVIDED OPINIONS IN THE CABINET. 61 

their conduct in this Eastern qnarrel, particularly charging 
them Avith having been cognizant of and approved of Men- 
schikotl's demands, which have occasioned all the hubbub. 
At last it was thought necessary to make a statement in re- 
ply, which was done by the " Times " on Thursday last. The 
article was a g'ood one, but contained an inaccuracy, about 
wl]ich Brunnow wrote a long but friendly letter of complaint 
to Clarendon. The day after this, another article was in- 
serted to set the matter right, with which Brunnow was 
quite satisfied ; but the explanations of the " Times" failed 
to stem the t3rrent of abuse, and the Tory papers only re- 
peated their misrepresentations with greater impudence and 
malignity than before, It was thought necesi^ary a stop 
should be put to this, and it was proposed to Clarendon to 
let discussions come on in both Houses, moved by Layard in 
the Commons, and Clanricarde in the Lords, which would 
afE)rd an opportunity for the only effectual contradiction, 
Ministerial statements in Parliament. Last night I met 
him at the Palace, when we talked the matter over. lie is 
still of opinion that it is essential to delay the explanations 
and put off all discussion till the matter is decided one way 
or another. He thinks so in reference to the case itself, 
leaving out of consideration the convenience of the Govern- 
ment ; he thinks that any discussion in the House of Com- 
mons Avill elicit a disposition for peace d toiit prix, which 
would seriously embarrass affairs, and only confirm Eussia 
in the course she is pursuing. I do not think so, but his 
opinions are founded on what he hears Cobden has said, and 
on the animus of the peace party. He told me again what a 
task his is in the Cabinet, standing between and mediating 
between Aberdeen and Palmerston, whose ancient and ha- 
bitual ideas of foreign policy are brought by this business 
into antagonism, and he says the difficulty is made greater 
by Aberdeen's unfortunate manner, who cannot avoid some 
of that sneering tone in discussion which so seriously affects 
his popularity in the House of Lords. He is therefore 
obliged to take a great deal upon himself, in order to pre- 
vent any collision between Palmerston and Aberdeen. It 
appears that Palmerston proposed on Saturday last that the 
entrance of the Russians into the Principalities should be 
considered a casus belli, in which, however, he was overruled 
and gave way. The Cabinet did not come to a vote upon it, 
but the general sentiment went with Aberdeen and Claren- 



62 REIGN or QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IH. 

don, and against Palmerston. He seems to have given way 
wifh a good grace, and hitherto nothing has occurred of a 
disagreeable character; on the contrary, both Clarendon and 
Granville tell me Palmerston has behaved very well. Clar- 
endon thinks (and in this I concur) that the country would 
never forgive the Government for going to war, unless they 
could show that it was absolutely necessary and that they 
had exhausted every means of bringing about a pacific solu- 
tion of the question, and nobody here would care one straw 
about the Russian occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia.' 

That ail means have not been exhausted is clear from 
this fact. The Austrians, who are more interested than any- 
body, have moved heaven and earth to effect a settlement, 
and the Emperor of Russia has himself asked for their "bons 
offices " for that end. They have entreated the Turks on the 
one hand to strike out some mezzo termine compatible with 
their dignity and with their previous refusals of Menschi- 
koff's terms, promising that they will urge its acceptance on 
the Emperor with all their force, and on the other hand they 
have implored the Emperor to delay the occupation of the 
Principalities, so that by temporizing, mediation, and a joint 
action and a judicious employment of diplomatic resources 
and astuteness, it is still possible some mode may be hit 
upon of terminating the quarrel. 

July 9th. — For the last fortnight or three weeks little 
has occurred which is worth noting. The Eastern Question 
drags on, as it is likely to do. Alaerdeen, who ten days ago 
spoke very confidently of its being settled, now takes a more 
desponding view, and the confidence he has hitherto reposed 
in the Emperor of Russia is greatly shaken. Clarendon has 
long thought the prospect very gloomy, but they are slill 
endeavoring to bring about an accommodation. The ques- 
tion resolves itself into this : what are the real wishes and 
views of the Emperor ? If his present conduct is the execu- 
tion of a long-prepared purpose, and he thinks the time 
favorable for the destruction of Turkey, no efforts will be 
availing, and he will listen to no proposals that we can pos- 
sibly make. If, on the contrary, he is conscious that he 
has got into a dilemma, and he wishes to extricate himself 
from it by any means not dishonorable to himself, and such 
as would not degrade hira in the eyes of his own subjects, 
then, no doubt, diplomatic astuteness will sooner or later hit 
upon some expedient by which the quarrel may be adjusted. 



1853.] THE INDIA BILL CARRIED. 63 ". 

Which of these alternatives is the true one, time alone can 
show. Meanwhile the expense to which the Turks are put 
in the wretched state of their finances will prove ruinous 
to them, and, end how it may, the fall of the Turkish do- 
minion has been accelerated by whcit has already taken place. 
There has been a great deal of discussion about bringing on 
debates on the Eastern Question in both Houses, but all the 
leading men of all parties have deprecated discussion, and it 
was finally determined last night that none should take 
place. Disraeli alone, who cares for nothing but making 
mischief, tried to bring it on, but in the House of Lords 
Derby took a different and more becoming course, and rec- 
ommended Clanricarde to give it up. Disraeli urged Lay- 
ard to persevere. Granville told me yesterday that while he 
lamented that Aberdeen was not a more judicious and con- 
ciliating leader in the House of Lords, and was so inferior 
in this respect to Lord Landsdowne, he liked him very 
much, thought he was a very good Prime Minister, and, 
above all, anything but deficient in political courage, in which 
respect he was by no means inferior to Palmerston himself. 

The Government have been going on well enough on the\ 
whole. Their immense majority on the India Bill was mat- / 
ter of general surprise, and showed the wretched tactics of' 
Disraeli, as well as his small influence over his party, for he 
could not get one hundred of the Tories to go with him. A 
few small holes have been made in Gladstone's Budget, but 
nothing of consequence. Tom Baring, however, told me 
he thought Gladstone had made some great mistakes, and 
that Graham would have been a better Chancellor of the 
Exchequer ; but this I much doubt. Popularity is very 
necessary to a Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Graham 
would never have been so persuasive with the House as Glad- 
stone. 

July \Wi. — The "Times" newspaper, always famous for 
its versatility and inconsistency, has lately produced articles 
on the Eastern Question on the same day of the most oppo- 
site characters, one warlike and firm, the next vehemently 
pacific by some other hand. This is of small importance, 
but it is indicative of the difference which exists in the 
Cabinet on the subject, and the explanation of the incon- 
sistency of the "Times" is to be found in the double in- 
fluence which acts on the paper. All along Palmerston has 
been urging a vigorous policy, and wished to employ more 



C4 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. 

peremptory language and stronger measures toward Eussia, 
while Aberdeen has been very reluctant to do as much as we 
hare done, and would have been well content to advise 
Turkey to accept the last ultimatum of Eussia, and so ter- 
minate what he considers a senseless and mischievous quarrel. 
Clarendon has had to steer between these two extremes, and 
while moderating the ardor of Palmerston, to stimulate Aber- 
deen, and persuade him to adopt a course congenial to pub- 
lic opinion in this country, which, however, inclined to 
peace and abhorrent of war, is not at all disposed to connive 
at the aggrandizement of Eussia, or to submit to the insolent 
dictation of the Emperor. The majority of the Cabinet 
have supported Clarendon, and approximate more nearly to 
the pacific policy of Aberdeen than to the stringent meas- 
ures of Palmerston. When the two articles appeared in the 
"Times," to which I particularly allude, Clarendon approved 
of the first, and found great fault with the other, while Aber- 
deen wrote to Delane and expressed his strong approbation 
of the second, and his conviction that the public would sooner 
or later take the views therein set forth. Clarendon tells me 
that he has no doubt Aberdeen has on many occasions held 
language in various quarters that was not prudent under the 
circumstances, and was calculated to give erroneous impres- 
sions as to the intentions of the Government, and he thinks 
that the Emperor himself has been misled by what he may 
have heard both of the disposition and sentiments of the 
Prime Minister, and of the determination of the House of 
Commons and the country at large to abstain from war in 
every case except one in which our own honor and interests 
were directly concerned. 

T had a' long talk with Clarendon on Sunday, when he 
told me that the chances of peace were a little better than 
they had been, inasmuch as there seemed to be a disposition 
at St. Petersburg to treat, and the Austrian Government was 
now in earnest bringing. to bear all their influence on the 
Emperor to accept reasonable terms of accommodation. 
Colloredo brought him the copy of a despatch to St. Peters- 
burg, which he said was excellent, very frank and free in its 
tone. Austria seems more fully sensible of the danger to 
herself of any war, which would inevitably let loose the 
revolutionary element all over the world. Clarendon has 
drawn up the project of a Convention which embraces all 
the professed objects of the Emperor, and which the Turks 



1853.] WARLIKE VIEWS OF LORD PALMERSTON. G5 

may agree to ; he sent it to Paris, whence Drouyn de Lhuys 
has returned it, with the full concurrence and assent of the 
French Government, and it went to Petersburg yesterday. 
The reception of this proposal will determine the question 
of peace or war. 

July lith. — G said to me this morning that Palm- 

erston is beginning to stir up matters afresh. I saw him 
yesterday morning at Holland House in close confabulation 
with Walewski, with whom I have no doubt he interchanged 
warlike sentiments, and complained of the lukewarmness of 
Aberdeen and Clarendon. It is evident that he is at ivork, 
and probabl}', according to his ancient custom, in some un- 
derhand way in the press. His flatterers tell him that a 
majority of the House of Commons would support him and 
a warlike policy, and though he may wish to believe this, and 
perhaps does, he will hardly go the length of trying to break 
up this Cabinet, with the desperate hojie of making another 
Government himself, based on the policy of going to war. 
Certain newspapers are always asserting that the Cabinet is 
divided and in dissension, and at the same time accusing it 
of timidity and weakness, urging strong measures, and as- 
serting that, if we had employed such long ago, Russia would 
have been frightened, and never have proceeded to such 
length*. But the Government are resolved, and wisely, to 
avoid war as long as they can, and if driven on to it, to be 
able to show the country that they had exhausted all means 
of preservinsT peace. 

July ISth. — At last there appears a probability of this 
Turkish question being amicably settled. On Saturday I 
was told that despatches were just come from Sir Hamilton 
Seymour of a more favorable character, and representing the 
Imperial Government as much more disposed to treat, with a 
real disposition to bring the negotiations to a successful issue. 
My informant added that Palmerston predicted that none of 
the projects and proposals which have emanated from the 
different Courts would be accepted at Petersburg, which he 
thought they all would. Yesterday I saw Clarendon, and 
found matters even in a still more promising state. After 
the Cabinet Walewski went to him, and communicated to 
him very important news (of a later date than Seymour's 
letters) from St. Petersburg, which to my mind is decisive 
of the question of peace. It appears that both France and 
Austria have been concocting notes and projects of a pacific 



66 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IH. 

tendency to be offered to the Emperor. There have been 
several of these, some framed at Constantinople, others at 
Paris. A short time ago the French Government prepared 
one, which it submitted to ours ; Clarendon thought it 
would not answer, and told them so. They asked whether 
he had any objection to their sending it off to St. Petersburg 
and Vienna and making the experiment. He replied, none 
whatever, and though he did not think it would succeed, he 
should rejoice if it did, as, provided the affair could be set- 
tled, it did not matter how. In the meantime he drew up 
his own project of a Convention, which went to Paris, and. 
received the cordial approbation of the Emperor ; and this 
document is now on its way to Petersburg. In the mean- 
time the French project was sent there, Castelbajac took it 
to Nesselrode, who read it very attentively, and said that he 
liked it very much, but that he could give no positive answer 
till he had subniitted. it to the Emperor. The eame afternoon 
he saw the French minister again, and told him that he had 
laid the project before the Emperor Nicholas, and that His 
Majesty was not only satisfied, but grateful for it, "non 
seulement satisfait, mais reconnaissant," and that the only 
reason he did not at once close with it vas that his ally, the 
Emperor of Austria, had. also submitted a proposal, and he 
did not like to take another from another Court exclusively 
without previous communication with him. Clarendon 
thinks that his proposal will be still more agreeable to the 
Emperor than the French one, and that he will probably 
end in taking it ; nor will there be any difficulty in this, 
because ours is so fully concurred in by France as to be in 
fact hers as much as ours. 

July ^Ist. — Having been at Goodwood the last week, I 
have not troubled myself with politics, either home or foreign, 
nor have any events occurred to excite interest. The most 
important matter here has been tlie division in the House of 
Lords on Monday last on the Succession Duties Bill, on which 
the Opposition were signally defeated. For a lon^ time the 
Government were very doubtful of obtaining a majority, but 
their whippers-in were more sanguine at last. Great exer- 
tions were made on both sides, the Derbyites whipped u.p all 
the men they could lay their hands on, and the Government 
fetched their ministers from Paris and Brussels, and. the 
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The majority was greater than 
either side expected, and Derby and his crew were exceed- 



1853.] PALMERSTON AND CLARENDON. 67 

ingly disconcerted, and Derby himself much out of humor. 
When Bessborough went over to him after the division, and 
said, " Lord Aberdeen wants to know if you will object to the 
Bill being read a third time on Thursday next," he pettishly 
replied, '^ The Bill may go to the devil tor all I care ; 1 shall 
take no further trouble about it." 

Awjust Is^. — I saw Clarendon as usual yesterday (Sun- 
day), when he read to me a letter from Sir Hamilton Sey- 
mour, giving an account of his deUvering to Nesselrode the 
Convention which Clarendon sent over, as well as reading to 
him Clarendon's private letter, which was a stinging one, 
bat very good. Nesselrode said of all the projects be liked 
that the best, and if it was tendered to them /rom Vienna, 
he thought it might do as the basis of an arrangment, but 
he could give no poiitive answer till he had submitted it to 
the Emp3ror. At the Cabinet on Saturday Clarendon read 
Seymour's letter, when his colleagues begged they might see 
the private letter of his which was alluded to, and he pro- 
duced and read that likewise. It was generally approved of, 
but the next diy Palmorston wrote a note to Clarendon, in 
which he expressed the warmest approbation of his note, 
and added that he had only refrained from saying all he 
thought of it at the Cabinet lest Ids approval might make 
others think it was too strong. He added that he rejoiced 
that the management of oar foreign affairs was in such able 
hands, and that, in fact, he (Clarendon) could do and say 
what Palmerston himself could not have done. It was a 
very handsome letter, very satisfactory both to Clarendon 
personally, and as showing that there is no disagreement on 
the Eastern Question /n the Cabinet, or at least between 
Palmerston and Clai^ndon, which is the essential point. 
Their union and friendship are remarkable when we recollect 
their past antagonism and Palmerston's jealousy of Claren- 
don, and the persuasion of both himself and Lady Palmerston 
that Clarendon was always waiting to trip up his heels and 
get his place. All these jealousies and suspicions were, how- 
ever, dissipated when Clarendon refused the Foreign Office 
last year, since which time they have been the best of friends, 
and Palmerston was quite satisfied at his having the Foreign 
Office. With regard to the chances of a pacific settlement, 
the assurances from St. Petersburg are all very favorable, 
but the acts of the Kussian generals in the Principalities are 
quite inconsistent with them, and between these conflicting 



68 EEIGN or QUEEN VICTORLi. [Chap. IH. 

manifestations Clarendon is in no small doubt and apprehen- 
sion as to the result. 

London, August SfJi. — Ever since last Monday, when 
Clareudon made a speech in the House of Lords on which a 
bad interpretation was put in reference to the question of 
peace or war, there has been a sort of panic, and the public 
mind, which refused at first to admit the possibility of war, 
suddenly rushed to the opposite conclusion, and everybody 
became persuaded that war was inevitable. The conse- 
quence was a great fall in the funds, and the depreciation of 
every sort of security. So matters remained till the end of 
the week. On Saturday afternoon I met Walewski, who 
told me he had that day received a letter from Castelbajac 
(the French Ambassador at St. Petersburg), informing him 
that the Emperor had signified his willingness to accept the 
proposal which was then expected from Vienna, and last 
night fresh news came that the proposal had arrived, and he 
had said he would take it, if the Turks would send an am- 
bassador with it, exactly as it had been submitted to him. 
This I heard late last night, and Granville considered it con- 
clusive of an immediate settlement. But this morning I 
went to the Clarendon and found him not so sure, and not 
regarding the pacific solution as fo indubitable ; there still 
remain some important matters of detail to be settled, though 
certainly the affair wears a much more favorable aspect, and 
there is every reason to hope it will all end well. But while 
this proposal was concocted at Vienna, the Cabinet here 
(last Saturday week) made some small verbal alterations in 
it, so that ultimately it will not be presented for the Em- 
peror's formal acceptance word for word the same, and if he 
wants a pretext to back out of his present engagement, he 
can therein find one. as he onlv agreed to take it if it 
was word for word the same. Then it has not yet been 
submitted to the Turks, and it is by no means sure they may 
not make diflBculties, or that Stratford Canning may not 
raise obstacles instead of using all his influence to procure 
their agreement, so that Clarendon does not consider that 
we are out of the wood, though he expects on the whole that 
it will end well. If it does it will be the triumph of diplo- 
macy, and a signal proof of the wisdom of moderation and 
patience. Granville says it will be principally owins: to 
Aberdeen, who has been very staunch and bold in defying 
public clamor, abuse, and taunts, and in resisting the wishes 



1853.] TURKISH DIFFICULTIES. 69 

and advice of Palraerston, who would have adopted a more 
stringent and uncompromising course. 

Au(/ust 2th. — Kt Court yesterday Aberdeen was quite con- 
fident of the settlement of the Eastern affair, and Brunnow, 
who was there with the Duchess of Leuchtenberg to see the 
Queen, very smiling. Clanricarde interrupted Clarendon in 
tlie House of Lords, and made a violent speech. Clarendon 
answered very well, without committing himself. The Gov- 
ernment are in high spirits at the prospect of winding up 
this prosperous Session with the settlement of the Eastern 
Question ; nothing else is wanting to their success. 

August 11th. — I saw Clarendon yesterday. Nothing 
new, but he said he fully expected Stratford Canning would 
play some trick at Constantinople, and throw obstacles in 
the way of settlement. This seems to me hardly possible, 
unless he behaves foolishly as well as dishonestly, and it can 
hardly be believed that his temper and Russian antipathies 
will betray him into such extravagant conduct. It is, how- 
ever, impossible to consider the affair as ^' settled. ^^ 

Yesterday all the world went to the great naval review 
at Portsmouth, except myself. It appears to have been a 
fine but tedious sight, for Granville set off at 5.30 A. m., and 
only got back at one in the morning. 

August 27th. — Since the 11th I have been absent from 
town, at Grimstone for York races, then at Hatchford, and 
since that gouty. While at York the Session closed with 
eclat by a speech of Palmerston's in his most flashy and suc- 
cessful style. John Eussell gave a night at last for the dis- 
cussion of the Turkish question, and made a sort of explana- 
tion, which was tame, meagre, and unsatisfactory. After 
some speeches expressive of disappointment and disapproba- 
tion, Cobden made an oration in favor of peace at any price, 
and this drew up Palmerston, who fell upon him with great 
vigor and success. The discussion would have ended 
languidly and ill for the Government but for this brilliant 
improvisation, which carried the House entirely with it. It 
was not, however, if analyzed and calmly considered, of 
much use to the Government as to their foreign policy, for it 
was only an answer to Cobden, and Palmerston did not say 
one word in defence of the policy which has been adopted, 
nor identify himself with it, as he might as well have done. 
Though there was nothing in it positively indicative of 
dissent and dissatisfaction, any one might not unfairly draw 



70 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. 

the inference that, if Palmerston had had his own way, he 
would have taken a more stringent and less patient course. 
However, nothing has been made of this, and on the whole 
his speech did good, because it closed the discussion hand- 
somely, and left the impression of Palmerston's having cast 
his lot for good and all with his present colleagues, as is 
really the case. 

The Session ended with a very flourishing and prosperous 
speech from the Throne, and nothing was wanting to the 
complete success of the Government but the settlement of 
the Turkish question, which, however, seems destined to be 
delayed som^ time longer; for the Turks have refused to. 
accept the Vienna note, except with some modifications, 
though these are said to be so immaterial that we hope the 
Emperor will not object to them. But all this is vexatious, 
because it reopens the whole question, causes delay and 
uncertainty, and keeps the world in suspense and apprehen- 
sion. Granville told me that what had occurred showed 
how much more sagacious Aberdeen had been as to this 
affair than Palmerston, the former having always maintained 
that there would be no difficulty with the Emperor, but if 
any arose it would be from the Turks ; whereas Palmerston 
was always sure the Turks would make none, but that the 
Emperor would refuse all arrangements. 

August 2Sth. — It seems the Turks, after a delay of ten 
days from receiving the proposition, sent it back to Vienna, 
asking for some not important alterations ; but immediately 
afterward they required a stipulation for the evacuation 
of the Principalities, and guarantee3 that they should not 
be occupied again. It is very improbable that the Emperor 
will listen to such conditions. Nesselrode has all along told 
Seymour that they (the Russians) mean in fulfillment of their 
pledges to evacuate the Principalities, as soon as they have 
got the required satisfaction, but that it must not be made 
a eondition, and entreated him to abstain from any demand 
which might give an air of compulsion to the act, much in 
the same way as we have told JSTesselrode he must not 
attempt to make any stipulation about the withdrawal of 
our fleet. Clarendon thinks that the Emperor is certain to 
reject the Turkish terms, and that the Turks are very 
capable of declaring war thereupon ; for m their last com- 
munication they said that they were prepared for " toutea 
les eventualites," and he suspects that Stratford has not 



1853.] LORD FALMERSTON'S INFLUENCE. 71 

bond fide striven to induce them to accept the proffered 
terms. Their rejection is the more unreasonable because 
the i^roposal is a hash-up of Menschikoff's original Note, 
and that which the Turks proposed in lieu of it, but in 
wliich the Turkish element preponderates, so that not only 
are their honor and dignity consulted, but in refusing they 
recede from their own original projDosal. 

The Queen is gone to Ireland, and Lord Granville with 
her, who is afterward to attend her to Balmoral. This is 
new, because hitherto she has always had with her either the 
Premier or a Secretary of State. Granville is to be relieved 
when circumstances admit, but at present there is no other 
arrangement feasible. Aberdeen and Clarendon are both 
kept in town till the question is settled. Newcastle got 
leave to go to Clumber for his boys' holidays, and lier 
Majesty does not desire to have the Home Secretary. 

But Charles Villiers told me last night that Lord 
Palmerston's influence and popularity in the House of 
Commons are greater than ever, and if this Government 
should be broken up by internal dissension, he would have 
no ditiiculty in forming another, and gathering round him a 
party to support him. This is what the Tories are anxiously 
looking to, desiring no better than to serve under him, and 
flattering themselves that in his heart he personally dislikes 
his colleagues, and in political matters agrees with them- 
selves. They pay him every sort of court, never attack 
him, and not only defer to him on all occasions, but make 
all the difference they can between him and the rest of the 
Government ; nor does he discourage or reject these civilities, 
though he does not invite them, or say or do anything m- 
consistent with his present position, but he probably thinks 
the disposition toward him of that large political party 
enhances his value to his own friends and increases his power, 
besides affording to him a good alternative m case anything 
should happen to break up the present Government or 
separate him from it. 

September 2d. — For the last week the settlement of this 
tedious Turkish question has appeared more remote than 
ever, and Clarendon was almost in despair when I saw him 
a few days ago, and the more so because he suspected that 
Lord Stratford was at the bottom of the difficulties raised 
by the Divan. However, according to the last accounts, it 
would seem that Stratford was not to blame, and had done 



72 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. 

what he could to get the Turks to comply with the terms of 
the Conference. At this moment the affair wears rather a 
better aspect, and my own belief is that it will be settled. 
It is a great bore that it drags on in this way, creating 
alarm and •uncertainty, shaking the funds, and affecting 
commerce. 

.The Duke of Bedford, of whom I have seen nothing for 
a long time, called on me a few days ago, and talked over 
the present state of affairs, and the position of Lord John 
Eussell. He said Lord John was now quite satisfied with it, 
and rejoiced at his own comparative freedom, and his immu- 
nity from the constant attacks of which he used to be the 
object ; and he is now conscious that, by the part he has 
acted in waiving his own pretensions, he has not only not 
degraded himself, but has greatly raised himself in public 
estimation and acquired much credit and po^^ularity. besides 
rendermg the country a great service. He is very well with 
his colleagues, and gratified at the deference shown him, 
and the consideration he enjoys in the House of Commons. 
There, however, I know from other sources, all the popular- 
ity is engrossed by Palmerston and by Gladstone, and Lord 
John has foolishly suffered Palmerston to take his place as 
leader very often, because he chose to stay away at Eich- 
mond, and not come near the House. 

The Duke took this opportunity of telling me what is 
now a very old story, but which he said he thought he had 
never told me before, and I am not sure whether he did or 
not. It was what happened to him at the time of the forma- 
tion of this Grovernment last year, of which he was evidently 
very proud. Just before the Derby Government broke down, 
and before that reunion at Woburn of which so much was 
said, the Prince gave him to understand that they should 
look to him for advice if anything occurred, which they were 
every day expecting. The Duke was at Woburn, and one 
morning when the hounds met there and half the county 
was at breakfast in the great hall, word was brought him 
that a messenger had come from Osborne with a letter for 
him. He found it was a letter from the Prince, in which he 
informed him that this was despatched by a safe and trust- 
worthy hand, and nobody was to know of its being sent; 
that the Derby Government was at an end, and the Queen 
and Prince were anxious for his opinion on the state of 
affairs, the dispositions of public men, and what course they 



1853.] OPPOSITION OF LORD STRATFORD. 73 

had better take. The Duke had recently been in personal 
communication witli all the leaders, with Aberdeen and 
Lord John, Newcastle, Clarendon, Lansdowne, Palmerston, 
and others, and he was therefore apprised of all their senti- 
ments and in a condition to give very full information to the 
Court. He sat himself down and with the greatest rapidity 
(his horse at the door to go hunting) wrote four or five 
sheets of paper containing the amplest details of the senti- 
ments and views of these different statesmen, and ended by 
advising that the Queen should send for Lords Lansdowne 
and Aberdeen — as she did. Lord John had already told him 
he did not wish to be sent for. After this of course he could 
not resent the advice the Duke gave ; and happily Lord 
John was firm in resisting the advice of some of those about 
him. and acted on the dictates of his own conscientious 
judgment and the sound advice of his friends. 

September del. — I dined last night tete-a-tete with Claren- 
don, and heard all the details of the state of the Turkish 
question, and read th3 interesting correspondence of Cowley, 
with his accounts of his conversations with the Emperor, 
and many other things. Clarendon is very uneasy because 
he thinks the Emperor Nicholas's pride will not let him accept 
the Note as modified by the Tiirks, though he would have 
accepted the same Note if it had been presented originally 
by the Conference. This is one danger. The next is one 
at Constantinople, where there is a strong bigoted violent 
party for war, disposed to dethrone the Sultan and replace 
him by his brother. This brother (of whom I never heard 
before) is a man of more energy than the Sultan, and is 
connected with the fanatical party. The Sultan himself is 
enervated by early debauchery and continual drunkenness, 
and therefore in great danger should he by any unpopular 
measures provoke an outbreak from the violent faction. 
Clarendon thinks that Stratford has encouraged the resist- 
ance of the Divan to the proposals of the Conference, and 
that he might have persuaded the Turks to accept the 
terms if he had chosen to do so and set about it in a proper 
manner ; but Clarendon says that he has lived there so 
long, and is animated with such a personal hatred of the 
Emperor, that he is full of the Turkish spirit ; and this and 
his temper together have made him take a part directly 
contrary to the wishes and instructions of his Government. 
He thinks he wishes to be recalled that he may make a 
4 



74 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. 

grievance of it, and come home to do all the mischief he can. 
Westmorland wrote word the other day that Stratford's lan- 
guage was very hostile to his Government, and the Ministers 
of all the other Powers at Constantinople thought he had 
actually resigned, and reported the fact to Vienna. 

The most important question now pending is what to do 
with the fleets. They cannot remain much longer in Besika 
Bay, and must either retire to Vourla or enter the Dar- 
danelles. The Emperor Napoleon wishes they should enter 
the Dardenelles, but only a little way, and not go on to Con- 
stantinople ; and Clarendon takes the same view, proposing 
a mezzo termine. The Emperor professes an earnest desire 
for a peaceful solution, and the strongest determination to 
act in concert with England to the end, and his views seem 
very sensible and proper. But, notwithstanding this disposi- 
tion, in which he probably is sincere, there is reason to 
beheve that he is all the time keeping up a sort of secret 
and underhand communication with Russia, and the evidence 
of this is rather curious. It appears that he has recently 
written a letter to the Duchess of Hamilton, in which he 
says that he believes the Russians will not evacuate the 
Principalit]es, and that he does not care if they stay there. 
This letter the Duchess showed to Brunnow, and he imparted 
it to Aberdeen, who told Clarendon, but none of the other 
Ministers know anything of it. Clarendon wrote word of 
this to Cowley, and told him to make what use of it he 
thought fit. In the first instance he said something to 
Drouyn de Lhuys of the Emperor's entertaining views dif- 
ferent from ours, which Drouyn repeated to the Emperor, 
who spoke to Cowley about it, and protested that he had no 
separate or diiferent objects, when Cowley, without men- 
tioning names, told him what he had heard of his having 
written. The Emperor made an evasive answer to this, but 
gave many assurances of his determination to act with us 
heartily and sincerely. This incident seems to have made a 
great impression both on Cowley and Clarendon, particularly 
as both know something more. Cowley says he knows that 
the Emperor has a private correspondence with Castelbajac, 
of which Drouyn de Lhuys is ignorant, and Seymour writes 
to Clarendon that he has observed for some time past a great 
lukewarmness on the part of the French Minister in pressing 
the Russian Government, and an evident leaning to them. 
As the Duchess of Hamilton has no intimacy with Brunnow, 



1853.] DISPOSAL OF THE FLEET. 75 

ifc appears very extraordinary that she conld communicate 
to him a letter of the Emperor's, and such a letter, which 
would be a great indiscretion unless he had secretly desired 
her to do so ; and all these circumstances taken together 
look very like a little intrigue b-jtween the Emperor and the 
Euisian Court, which would also be very consistent with his 
secret, false, and clandestine mode of conducting his airairs. 
It is probable enough that he may wish to keep on good 
terms with Russia and at the same time maintain his inti- 
mate connection with England. That he is bent on avoiding 
war there can be no doubt, and for very good reasons, for 
France is threatened with a scarcity, and he is above all 
things bent on keeping the people supplied with food at low 
prices; and for this object the French Government is straining 
every nerve and prepared to make any amount of pecuniary 
sacrifice; but the necessity for this, which absorbs all their 
means, renders it at the same time particularly desirable to 
maintain peace in Europe. 

Thci*e never was a case so involved in difficulties and 
complications of different sorts, all the particulars of which 
I heard last night ; but the affair is so tangled that it is im- 
possible to weave it into an intelligible and consistent narra- 
tive, and I can only jot down fragments, which may hereafter 
serve to explain circumstances connected with the daioue- 
ment, whenever it takes place. John Russell and Palmerston 
arc both come to town, so that a little Cabinet will discuss 
this matter. Palmerston is extremely reasonable, does not 
take the part of the Turks, but on the contrary blames them 
severely for making difficulties he thinks absurd and useless, 
but is still for not letting them be crushed. lie is on the 
best terms with Clarendon, and goes along with him very 
cordially in his policy on this question. Both Palmoi'ston 
and Lord John seem to agree with Clarendon on the question 
of the disposal of the fleet better than Aberdeen, who is al- 
ways for trusting the Emperor, maintaining peace, and would 
be quite contented to send the fleet to Vourla or Tenedos, 
and would see with regret the more energetic course of en- 
tering the Dardanelles. However, there is no chance of any 
material difference on this score, and I have no doubt, if the 
question is not settled before the end of the month, the fleets 
will anchor within the Straits and there remain. 

I was glad to find that the Queen has consented to let 
Palmerston take his turn at Balmoral, and Aberdeen has in- 



76 EEIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. HI. 

formed him that he is to go there. It was done by Aberdeen 
speaking to the Prince at Osborne, who said he thought there 
would bo no difficulty. The Queen acquiesced with the good 
sense she generally shows on such occasions, being always 
open to reason, and ready to consent to whatever can be 
proved to her to be right or expedient. 

Septemler Uh. — I went to Winchester yesterday, and fell 
in with Grraham in the train, so we went together and had 
a great deal of talk, mostly on the Eastern Question. He 
thinks the Emperor of Russia will not accept the Turkish 
alterations, and he is very hot against Stratford, to whom he 
attributes all the difficulties. He has beard that Stratford 
ha3 held language hostile to the Government, and he is in- 
clined to think not only that he has acted treacherously to- 
ward his employers, but that proofs of his treachery might 
be obtained, and he is all for getting the evidence if possible, 
and acting upon it at once, by recalling him ; he thinks the 
proofi might be obtained through the Turkish Ministers, and 
if they can be, he would not stop to inquire who might be 
displeased, or what the effect mi^ht be, but do it at once. 
He acknowledges, however, that it would not do to act on 
surmises or reports, and that nothing but clear proofs of 
Stratford's misconduct, such as will satisfy Parliament, would 
reader such a step justifiable or safe. With regard to the 
fleets, he says there' is no reason why they should not remain 
in Besika Bay, and it is a mistake to suppose they could not, 
and ho is very decidedly against their entering the Darda- 
nelles in any case, because it would be contrary to treaty and 
afford the "Emperor of Russia a just casus belli; and he 
maintains that his having (contrary to treaties and inter- 
national rights) occupied the Principaliiie?, affords no reason 
why we should infringe them in another direction. When 
this question comes to be discussed, his voice will evidently 
be for not entering the Dardanelles, though he acknowledges 
that we cannot retreat while the Russians remain where 
they are. He talked a great deal about Palmerston, of whom 
he has some distrust, and fancied he has been in communica- 
tion with Stratford, and that he would concur with him in 
his proceedings, and he expressed great satisfaction when I 
told him that Palmerston and Clarendon were on the most 
cordial and confidential terms, and that the former entirely 
disapproved of the conduct of the Turks (which is that of 
Stratford) in regard to the Kote. He thinks Palmerstoa 



1853.] LOHD STRATFORD'S GOOD FAITH. 77 

looks to being Prime Minister, if anything happened to Aber- 
deen, but that neither he nor John Russell could hold the 
office, as neither would consent to the elevation of the other. 
On the whole, he inclines to the opinion that Palmerston 
has made up his mind to go on with this Government and his 
present colleagues, that he means to act fairly and honestly 
■with and by them, and has no arriere pensee toward the 
Tories, though lie is not sorry to have them always looking 
to him, and paying him, as they do, excessive court. It 
insures him great support and an easy life in the House of 
Commons, where, however, he says Palmerston has done very 
little this year, and he does not seem much impressed with 
the idea of his having gained very considerably there, or ob- 
tained a better position than he had before. 

September Sth. — I saw Clarendon on Sunday. There is 
nothing new, but he said he would lay two to one the Em- 
peror does not accept the modified Note ; it will be a contest 
between his pride and his interest, for his army is in such 
a state of disease and disti-ess that he is in no condition to 
make war ; on the other hand, he cannot, without extreme 
humiliation, accept the Turkish Note. What will happen, 
if he refuses, nobody can possibly divine. The four Minis- 
ters met to discuss the matter, and were very harmonious ; 
Palmerston not at all for violent measures, and Clarendon 
said he himself was the most warlike of the four. I told 
him of my journey with Graham and all that ho had said. 
He replied that he knew Graham wa-? very violent against 
Stratford, but that it would be impossible to make out any 
case against him, as he certainly had read to the Turkish 
Minister all his (Clarendon's) despatches and instructions, 
and he gave the most positive assurances, which it would be 
difficult to gainsay, that he had done everything in his 
power to induce the Turkish Government to give way to the 
advice of the Conference, and whatever his secret wishes and 
opinions might be, there was no official evidence to be had 
that he had failed in doing his duty fairly by his own Gov- 
ernment ; therefore it would be out of the question to recall 
him. 

Sepfembcr 20lh. — At Doncaster all last week ; I found 
Clarendon yesterday very much alarmed at the prospect in 
the East. He thinks it will be impossible to restrain the 
Turkish war party ; he told me that the Conference at Vienna 
had imparted their Note to the Turkish Ambassador there. 



78 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. 

and both he and his dragoman had expressed their entire 
approbation of it. They had considered this to afford a 
struD:^- presnmj^tion that it would not be unpalatable at 
Constantinople, but it was not sent there because this would 
have occasioned so much delay, and it was desirable to get 
the Russians out of the Principalities as speedily as possible. 
The Russian generals had actually received orders to pre- 
pare for the evacuation, which the Emperor would have 
commanded the instant he heard that the Turks were willing 
to send the Vienna Note. The Emperor Napoleon has again 
given the strongest assurances of his determination in no 
case whatever to separate his policy from ours, his resolution 
to adhere to the English alliance, and to maintain peace a 
tout prix, which he frankly owns to be indispensably neces- 
sary to the interests of his country. The Austrians are al- 
ready beginning to hang back from taking any decided j)art 
in opposition to Russia, and, while still ready to join in 
making every exertion to maintain peace, they are evidently 
determined if war breaks out to take no part against Russia, 
and this disposition is sure to be improved by the interview 
which is about to take place between the Emperors of Russia 
and Austria. 

Septsmher 2Gth. — I have been at Hatchford all last week. 
T saw Clarendon on Thursday before I went there, and heard 
that two ships of each fleet were gone up the Dardanelles,^ 
and that the rest would probably soon follow, as the French 
were iiow urging that measure. He was then going to 
Aberdeen to propose calling the Cabinet together, the state 
of affairs becoming more critical every hour, and apparently 
no chance of averting war. The prospect was not the 
bn'2:hter from the probability of a good deal of difference of 
opinion when they do meet. He showed me a letter from 
Palmerston, in which he spoke very coolly of such a contin- 
gency as war with Russia and Austria, and with his usual 
confidence and flippancy of the great blows that might be 
inflicted on both Powers, particularly alluding to the pos- 
sible expuloion of the Austrians from Italy, an object of 
which he has probably never lost sight. Meanwhile the vio- 
lence and scurrility of the press here exceed all belief. Day 
after day the Radical and Tory i:)aper3, animated by very dif- 

1 [The British vessels were steamers, the " Retribution " and another. There 
■was at that tine only one line-of- battle ship in each fleet having steam-power; 
all the other vessels of the line were sailing-ships.] 



1853.] THE CONFERENCE AT OLMUFZ. 79 

ferent sentiments and motives, pour fortli the most virulent 
abuse of the Emperor of Russia, of Austria, and of this 
Government, especially of Aberdeen. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Conference at Olniutz— The Turks declare War— Lord Paloierston's Views— Lord 
Palinerston lauded by the Radicals and the Tories— i^'ailure of the Pacific Policy- 
Lord Aberdeen desires to resi^'n— Lord Joa;i to be Prime Minister— Obstacles to Lord 
John's Pretensions- Danger ot breakin r up the Governineut-Lord John's Wilfalneis 
and Unpopularity— Alliirice of tlie Noi-thern Powers defeated by Manteuffel— vJo.iflict 
of the two Policies— Meeing- of l'arlia;nei)t discussei— French Kefugees in Belgiuiu— 
General iJaraguay d'Hilliers sent to Constantinople -Mr. Iteeve rL-turns Irom the Kast 
— Lord John's Refor n 15111— Tae Einpeior of Russia writes to the (.^ueen— Sir James 
Graham's Views on Reform, etc.— Oppjnents of the Relorm Suhsme -Abortive At- 
tempts at Negotiation -Th3 Four Powers agree to a Protocol— Lurd Palmerston 
threatens to seeed — Lord Pal nerston resigns oa the Refor.a Sche.ne— Lord Palmer- 
ston Ojiposed to Refor.n- Effects of Lord Palmer, ton's Resignation- Concihatory 
Overtuies— Lord Lansdowno's Position— Lord Aberdeen's Account— Lady Palmer- 
Bt'.n makes up the Disp ate -Lord Pal.nerstja withdraws his Resignation — Baraguay 
d'Hilhers refuses to enter the Black Sea— War resolved oh— iCeview of txie Transaction, 

October Uli. — I went to The Grove on Saturday, and 
spent great part of the afternoon on Sunday reading the 
Eastern Question despatches, printed in a Blue Book to be 
laid by-and-by before Parliament. On Sunday came West- 
morland's account of his interviews with the Emperor of 
Russia and Nesselrode at Olmiitz, which sounded very satis- 
factory, for the Emperor was very gracious and pacific, and 
Nesselrode in his name disclaimed in the most positive terms 
any intention of aggrandizing himself at the expense of Tur- 
key or of claiming any protectorate, or asserting any claims 
inconsistent with the sovereignty and independence of the 
Sultan, and moreover signified his willingness to make a 
declaration to that effect in such form and manner as might 
be hereafter agreed upon. All this was very well, and 
served to confirm the notion that, if some sensible men, 
really desirous of settling the question, could be brought to- 
gether, the accomplishment would not be difficult ; but the 
distance which separates the negotiating parties from each 
other, and the necessity of circulating every proposition 
through so many remote capitals, and the consequent loss 
of time, have rendered all conferences and pacific projects 
unavailing. 

Yesterday morning a messenger arrived, bringing the 



80 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. lY. 

telegraphic despatch from Vienna, which announced the de- 
termination of the Turks to go to war, and that a grand 
Council was to be assembled to decide on the declaration, 
news which precluded all hope of adjustment ;^ and yester- 
day afternoon the further account of the decision of the 
Council was received. Such of the Ministers as are in town 
met in the afternoon, and it was decided that all the rest 
should be summoned, and a Cabinet held on Friday next. 

It will be no easy matter to determine what part we shall 
take, and how far we shall mix ourselves up in the quarrel 
as belligerents. It will be very fortunate if the Cabinet 
should be unanimous on this question. Palmerston has 
hitherto acted very frankly and cordially with Clarendon, 
but the old instincts are still strong in him, and they are all 
likely to urge him to recommend strong measures and an 
active interference. Granville told me las^. night he thought 
Palmerston was not at all displeased at the decision of the 
Turks, and as he still clings to the idea that Turkey is 
poweiful and full of energy, and he is quite indifferent to the 
danger to which Austria may be exposed, and would rejoice 
at her being plunged in fresh difficulties and threatened with 
fresh rebellions and revolutions, he will rather rejoice than 
not at the breaking out of hostilities. He will not dare to 
avow his real propensities, but he will cloak them under 
other pretences and pretexts, and give effect to them as much 
as he can. He has been speechifying in Scotland, where, 
though he spoke very hand-omely of Clarendon, he did not 
say one word in defence of Aberdeen, or anything calculated 
toput an end to the notion and repeated assertions that he 
and Aberdeen had been at variance on the Eastern Question. 
I find Aberdeen feels this omission very much, and it would 
certainly have been more generous, as well as more just, if he 
had taken the opportunity of correcting the popular error as 
to Aberdeen, after having been reaping a great harvest of 
popularity at his expense. 

Palraerston's position is curious. He is certainly very 
popular, and there is a high idea of his diplomatic skill and 
vigor. He is lauded to the skies by all the Radicals who are 

> [The declaration of the Turkish Council or Divan, held on October 3, vas 
to the effect that, if the Principalities were not evacuated in fifteen davs, a state 
of war would ensue. To this the Emperor of Russia responded on October 18 
by a formal declaration of war. War beins declared, the Straits wei-e opened, 
and, at the request of the Sultan, the allied fleets entered the Dardanelles on 
October 22.] 



1853.] LOr.D PALMERSTON LAUDED. 81 

the admirers of Kossuth and Mazzini, who want to renew the 
scenes and attempts of 1848, and who fancy that, if Palmcr- 
ston were at the head of the Government, he would play into 
their hands. On the other hand, he is equally an object of 
the flattery and praise of the Tories, who cannot get over 
their being succeeded by a Peelite Prime Minister, and they 
cling to the belief that there can be no real cordiality, and 
must be complete dilference of opinion, between Aberdeen 
and Palmerston, and they look forward to the prospect of 
their disunion to breaii up this odious Government, and a 
return to office with Palmerston at their head. There are 
the political chimeras with which their brains are filled, and 
which make them take (for very dillerent reasons) the fame 
part as the Radicals on the Eastern Question, My own con- 
viction is that both parties reckon without, their host. Palm- 
erston is sixty-nine years old, and it is too late for him to 
look out for fresh political combinations and other connec- 
tions, nor would any object of ambition repay him for the 
dissolution of all his personal and social tics. He will, there- 
fore, go on as he does now, {iccci)ting such popularity as is 
offered him as a means of enhancing his own importance in 
this Cabinet ; and, in the event of any accident happening 
to it, of making his own pretensions available. 

October 6tli. — Delane was sent for by Lord Aberdeen the 
night before last, when they had a long conversation on the 
state of affairs, and Aberdeen tcld him that he was resolved 
to be no party to a war with Russia on such grounds as the 
present, and he was prepared to resign rather than incur such 
responsibility. This was the marrow of what he said, and 
very important, because not unlikely to lead to seme difl[er- 
ence in the Cabinet, and possibly to its dissolution. 

October 1th. — Clanricarde called here jesterday morning ; 
he is very strong against the Government and their policy, 
and maintains that if we had joined France and sent the fleet 
up when she did. the Emperor of Russia would then have 
receded, as his obstinacy was entirely caused by his convic- 
tion that France and England would never remain united, 
and that nothing would induce the latter to make war on 
Russia. He said this idea had been confirmed by the lan- 
guage of Aberdeen, who had continually spoken of his de- 
termination to avoid war to Brunnow and others, and in his 
letters to Madame de Lieven — la pcdx d tout prix. Clanri- 
carde, however, himself said he would not declare war against 



83 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IV. 

Eiissia, and we might defend Turkey without going that 
length. I v/ent and told Clarendon all he had said (in greater 
detail), and he owned that it was more than probable that 
Ab-^rdeen had held some such language as was attributed to 
him ; indeed, he had more than once had occasion to re- 
monstrate with him upon it. Clarendon was very uneasy at 
the prospect of the discussion about to take place, and con- 
templates as extremely probable the breaking-up of the Gov- 
ernment on the question of war. Palmerstou has been very 
re3erved, but always on the same friendly terms with his col- 
lea.yuss, and Clarendon in particular ; but Lady Palmerston 
as usual talks a qui veut Ventendre of the misconduct of the 
whole affair, and affirms that, if Palmerston had had the 
management of it, all would have been settled long ago. As 
matters have turned out, it is impossible not to regret that 
we were perhaps too moderate and patient at first ; for as the 
course we have adopted has not been successful, it seems un- 
fortunate we did not try another, which might have been 
morj so. But this is judging apr^'i coup, and nothing is so 
earv as to affirm that, if something had been done, which was 
not done, success would have attended it. 

Octobp.r Wi. — The Cabinet went off very well yesterday, 
no serious difference of opinion about anything, and a good 
concurrence both as to what had been done and what ought 
to be done hereafter. Lord Aberdeen is well pleased. 

Newmarket, October \Wi. — This morning I met the Duke ' 
of Bedford on the heath, who told me he wanted very much 
to s]>eak to me about certain communications he had re- 
ceived which made him extremely uneasy, and full of appre- 
hension of coming difficulties, threatening the very existence 
of the Government. It seems that a short time ago Lord 
Aberdeen imparted to John Eussell his wish to resign, and 
to place the Government in his hands. He said that he had 
only taken his present post because his doing so was indis- 
pensable to the formation of the Government, and had al- 
ways contemplated Lord John's eventually succeeding him, 
and he thought the time was now come when he might very 
properly do so. He did not anticipate any insurmountable 
opposition in any quarter, and he should himself speak to 
Gladstone about it, who was the most important person to 
be consulted, and he was in fact only prevented doing so, as 
he had intended, by not being able to go to Scotland, where 
he had expected to meet Gladstone. Whether Aberdeen had 



185S.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S PRETENSIONS. 83 

spoken to Gladstone since his retnrn to London, the Duke 
of Bedford did not know. No steps appear to have been 
taken with regard to Palmerston, nor does it appear that 
any progress was made in accomplishing this change. The 
Queen had been apprised of Aberdeen's intentions. Such 
was the state of things when a short time ago the Duke re- 
ceived a letter from Lord John, in whicli he said that mat- 
ters could not go on as they were, and that there must be 
some changes ; and that very soon he could no longer act 
without being primarily responsible for the policy of the 
Government — iu other words, without resuming his post of 
Prime Minister. This is all the Duke knows, as Lord John 
entered into no explanations or details, and he is in total 
ignorance of the grounds of his brusque determination, and 
of what can have occurred to produce it. He sees, however, 
all the difficulties and embarrassments that in consequence 
of it are looming in the distance, and how very possible it is 
that the Government may be broken up. All this we very 
fully discussed, but without either of us being able to guess 
what it all means, or what the result will be of Lord John's 
putting his intentions into execution. 

October 16th. — I came to town yesterday morning, and in 
the afternoon went to the Foreign Office, and saw Clarendon, 
to whom I imparted what the Duke of Bedford had told me. 
He said he knew it all, Aberdeen having told him what had 
passed between John Russell and himself ; but having made 
Clarendon give his word of honor that he would not say a 
word of it to anybody, so he said, ''I would not mention it 
even to you, to whom I tell everything." He then, however, 
went into the whole question, and told me what had passed, 
which did not exactly agree with the Duke's story. Accord- 
ing to Clarendon, Lord John went to Lord Aberdeen before 
Parliament was up, and told him he could not consent to go 
on in his present position, to which Aberdeen replied, "Very 
well, you only meet my own wishes, and you know I always 
told you that I should be at any time ready to resign my 
place to you." 

Nothing more seems to have taken place at that time, 
nor till lately, when Lord John went again to Aberdeen, and 
repeated his determination not to go on ; but this time the 
communication does not seem to have been received by Aber- 
deen with the same ready acquiescence in the proposed 
change, and some plain speaking took place between them. 



84 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IV. 

I infer, but as Clarendon did not expressly say so I put it 
dubiously, that Aberdeen had spoken to Gladstone and ascer- 
tained that he would by no means agree to the substitution 
of John Eussell, and should go with Aberdeen if he retired. 
At all events, while Aberdeen told him that he was prepared, 
if he wished it, to broach the matter to his colleagues, he 
inti?nated to him that it was evident he wanted to turn him 
out, and put himself in his place, but that he (Aberdeen) 
could not agree to retire at this moment, and before Parlia- 
ment met, and that Lord John had better well consider the 
step he was about to take, as it would in all probability 
break up the Government, and asked him if he was prepared 
to encounter the odium of doing so, more especially as he 
must remember that he had only consented to foim this 
Government on Lord John's own assurance to him that he 
was himself unable to form one. He asked him if he was 
secure of Palmerston's concurrence in the change he pro- 
posed, and he replied that he did not expect to find any 
difficulty in that quarter. This was the substance of what 
passed between them, Aberdeen being evidently a good deal 
nettled, and thinking Lord John is behaving very ill. This 
is Clarendon's opinion also, and he thinks, if Lord John 
persists, the Government will be inevitably broken up, for a 
considerable part of the Cabinet will certainly not consent 
to have Lord John agam placed at the head of the Govern- 
ment. Clarendon does not believe a word of Palmerston's 
being a party to it, and he knows that both Gladstone and 
NcAvcastle would resign. Graham he is not sure of, but 
inclines to think he would retire with Aberdeen, Cfpecially 
if Aberdeen has any compulsion or ill-usage to complain of. 
For the moment, however, this Etorm has blown over, as 
Lord John has signified to Aberdeen that he does not mean 
to press the matter again for the present. The Queen, when 
it was mentioned to her, was anything but approving of or 
consenting to the change. 

In all this matter there is little doubt that Lord John has 
been instigated by his connections, and they none of them. 
Lord John himself included, have sense enough to see that 
the course he is adopting is quite suicidal, and would be not 
less fatal to his own reputation and popularity than to the 
Government he belongs to. He failed as Prime Minictcr, 
and no credit attended his Administration, and no regret his 
fall. The popularity he lost, he in good measure regained 



1853.] THEIR MISCHIEVOUS EFFECTS. 85 

by his conduct on the formation of this Government, when 
he waived his own pretensions, and for the public good 
consented, after having held the first place, to accept the 
second ; but the worhi does not know how i*eluctantly and 
grudgingly he did this, and how sorely his pride and vanity 
suffered on that occasion. The position he occupied of leader 
of the House of Commons without an office was anomalous, 
and many thought it objectionable, but he himself insisted 
on it, and it proved successful. The House of Commons 
not only accepted it, but were joleased to see a man so 
eminent eschewing office with its functions and emoluments, 
and gratuitously devoting himself to the service and the 
bu-iness of Parliament. He became popular again in the 
House, and would have been more so if he had not chosen 
to quit the Treasury Bench early every afternoon, and go 
down to Richmond, leaving Palmerston to do his work, and 
ingratiate himself with the IJoase. Aberdeen reminded Lord 
John that this position, which he now found intolerable, was 
one he had chosen to make for himself ; that he had not only 
declared he could not form a Government, but that every 
office had been at his disposal, and he had been invited to 
take the greatest offices, or, if he prefered it, any smaller 
one, but that he had insisted on holding none. Aberdeen is 
quite right not to resign noW; or before Parliament meets, 
where he must appear as Minister to defend his own policy. 

I expect that Lord John will not renew his demands for 
some time, if at all ; but if h? does, this is what will prob- 
ably take place • The Government will be broken up, Lord 
John will try to form one and will fail, and the Government 
will again be constituted minus Lord John. Is'obody would, 
I think, go out with him. This is supposing (which I think 
certain) that Palmerston would not make common cause with 
him, but prefer to remain with the rest. There would then 
remain the great difficulty of the lead of the House of Com- 
mons and the part Palmerston would play ; but, dangerous 
as it would be, it would probably be found necessary to trust 
him with the lead, most distasteful though it would be both 
to Aberdeen and to the Queen. 

October 18th. — The Emperor of Russia moved heaven and 
earth to bring about a new Holy Alliance between himself, 
Austria, and Prussia, in which he would have succeeded if 
it had not been for the wisdom and firmness of Manteuffel,^ 

» ICouat Manteuffol was tlic Prussian Miaijtor for Foreign Affairs, and the 



86 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IV. 

who "was proof against all his seductions. Austria consented, 
but only on condition that Prussia did likewise. The King 
of Prussia "would have given way with his characteristic 
weakness, but Manteuifel would not hear of it, and contrived 
to keep his master straight. In an interview of two hours 
between the Emperor and Manteuffel ttte-a-tete, the Empe- 
ror employed all the means he could think of to prevail on 
the Prussian Minister, but all in vain ; he refused positively 
to allow Prussia to depart from her neutrality. This had 
the effect of keeping Austria neutral also, and that of mak- 
ing the Emperor more inclined to peace ; but the Turkish 
declaration of war and peremptory summons to him to quit 
the Principalities leave him no alternative but that of taking 
up the gauntlet thus thrown down. 

November 2d. — All last week at ISTewmarket, during which 
nothing of moment occurred but the renewed attempts at ne- 
gotiation, and the consent of the Turks to defer the com- 
mencement of hostilities. I saw Clarendon the day before 
yesterday, who told me how matters stood, and showed me 
a despatch just received from Vienna with a copy of a very 
moderate and pacific Note from Nesselrode to Buol, show- 
ing that there is every disposition at St. Petersburg to patch 
matters up. Clarendon told me that he was heartily sick 
of the whole question, in which the double trouble and diffi- 
culty were cast upon him of reconciling the Eussians and the 
Turks, and of preserving agreement in the Cabinet, where 
Aberdeen was always opposing measures of hostility toward 
Russia, and. Palmerston for pushing them forward. He said 
he steered between the two, and that he and John Eussell 
were more nearly agreed than any of the others ; he told me 
at the same time a characteristic trait of Palmerston. The 
Turks having determined to plunge into war against the 
advice of their protectors, especially against ours, and it 
having been made known to us that the Sultan and his 
Ministers were not disinclined to be guided by us, but that 
they were themselves overruled and driven to this extreme 
course by the Grand Council, it became necessary in Claren- 
don's opinion to notify to the Turkish Government that, 
since they had thought fit to take their own independent 

leacTinGT member of the Prussian Cabinet. He was accused of sacrifieinor Prus- 
sian interests to those of Austria at the Conference of Olrmitz ; but in fact he 
succeeded in defeating what would have been a very formidable confederacy oi 
the German Powers with Eussia.] 



1853] OBJECTIONS OF LORD PALMERSTON. 87 

course, we should reserve to ourselves the right of acting 
according to our own discretion, and not consider ourselves 
bound to be dragged into a war at the heels of the Grand 
Council, which is an assembly of ruffians and fanatics, by 
whom it would be utterly inconcistent with the dignity of 
our Crown that our policy should be governed and influenced. 
It seems too that this is a point on which the Queen feels 
very strongly, and is exceedingly anxious that the honor 
and dignity of the Crown should not be compromised. Ac- 
cordingly Clarendon drew up a despatch to this effect, to 
which the Cabinet acceded, and Palmerston also, though 
with some reluctance. However, he not only saw the pro- 
posed despatch, but he made some alteration in it with his 
own hand, thereby of course subscribing to it. Just after 
this Clarendon went to Windsor, and submitted the despatch 
to the Queen and the Trmce ; they objected to it that it was 
not strong enough in their fense, but Clarendon prevailed 
upon them to waive their objections, and, as it had been 
agreed to in the Cabinet, to let it gc. But before it was 
gone Clarendon received a letter from Palmerston, strongly 
objecting to the despatch altogether, and desiring Clarendon 
to inform Lord Aberdeen that he would be no party to fuch 
a communication. This was extremely embarrassing. Clar- 
endon spoke to Aberdeen, and afterward (at Aberdeen's 
suggestion) informed the Queen what had occurred. Her 
Majesty said, "I advise you not to attach much importance 
to this communication. I know Lord Palmerston from much 
experience, and it is probably only an attempt to bully, which, 
if you take no notice of it, you will hear no more of." The 
result justified the Queen's sagacity, for Clarendon sent off 
the despatch, and at the same time wrote word to Palmer- 
ston that he had done so, giving him sundry reasons why he 
could not do otherwise, to which he received in reply a very 
good-humored letter, merely saying that, as it was gone, it 
was useless to say any more about it, and probably it would 
do no harm. 

There has been talk abroad and discussion in the Cabinet 
about the meeting of Parliament. Lord John and Lord 
Aberdeen both wished Parliament to meet, the first because 
he is always hankering after the House of Commons, the 
latter because he wished Parliament to decide on the question 
of peace or war, so that in the one alternative his hands 
might be strengthened, or in the other he might have a 



88 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IV. 

pretext for resigning. But both Clarendon and Palmer- 
ston were much against it, and now that there is a fresh 
prospect of peace, it is rendered more unnecessary and un- 
desirable. 

King Leopold is here, still uneasy (though less than he 
was) upon the subject of his demcUs with the Emperor of 
the French. The cause of them is the libellous publications 
of the French refugees in Belgium. They compose the most 
outrageous attacks of a personal nature on him and the 
Empress, which they have printed in Belgium, and get these 
papers smuggled into France, and disseminated among the 
lower classes, and particularly the troops. This naturally 
gives the Emperor great offence, and Leopold would afford 
him redress if he could ; but the Constitution was made by 
journalists, and the unrestrained liberty of the press is so 
interwoven with the Constitution, that the Legislature itself 
has no power to deal with the case, nor any power short of a 
Constituent Assembly. All this Leopold has submitted to 
liis powerful neighbor, and their relations seem to be more 
amicable ; for very civil letters have ])a3sed between the two 
monarchs, through the Prince de Chimay, whom Leopold 
sent to compliment the Emperor when he went lately to 
Lille. 

Novsmisr lOtJi. — All attempts at settling the Eastern 
Question by JVutes have been rudely interrupted by the 
actual commencement of hostilities. Meanwhile the Notes 
sped their way, but at Vienna it was deemed no longer 
possible to settle it in this manner, but that there must now 
be a regular treaty of peace, the terms of which the Allies 
might prescribe, and there is now a question of having a 
Congress or Conference here, to carry on the affair. It is, 
however, difficult to make out what the French are at, and. 
with all our intimacy, we must keep on our guard against all 
contingencies on the part of our Imperial neighbor. l^Tobody 
knows what is his real motive for sending Baraguay d'Hill- 
iers to Constantinople. Francis Baring, when I told him of 
this appointment, said it could be only for the purpose of 
quarrelling, for he was the most violent of men, and was 
certain to quarrel with whomsoever he had to deal. If this 
be so, his quarrelling with Lord Stratford is inevitable, and 
it is by no means improbable that Louis Napoleon is tired of 
playing second fiddle to us, and sends this General there for 
the express purpose of counteracting our superior influence. 



1853.] LORD STRATFORD'S INFLUENCE. 89 

and, by the tender of military counsel and aid, to substitute 
his own for ours. 

Eeeve is Just returned from the East, having spent some 
time at Oonstaiitinoi)le, and he came home by Vienna. Lord 
Stratford treated him with great kindness and hospitality^ 
and talked to him very openly. He says that Stratford ex- 
ercised a great but not unlimited influence and control over 
the Turkish Government, and of course is very jealous of 
the influence he possesses ; for example, he boasted to Keeve 
that he had carried a great point, and had procured the ap- 
jDointment of the candidate he favored as Greek Patriarch, 
an interference which, if it had been made by the Emperor 
of Russia, whose concern it is much more than ours, would 
have excited in us great indignation. Such an exercise of 
influence and in such a matter, of which the Russians are 
well aware, is calculated to exasperate them, and it is not 
unnatural that the Emperor should feel that, if any foreign 
influence is to prevail in Turkey, he has a better right than 
any other Power to establish his own. Reeve has a very poor 
opinion of the power, resources, and political condition of 
Turkey, and does not doubt the military success of the Rus- 
sians. He says that the corruption is enormous — everybody 
bribes or is bribed. The Greek Patriarch whom Stratford 
got appointed had to pay large sums to Redschid Pasha and 
his son. The whole State is rotten to the core. 

November \Wi. — This morning John Russell breaks 
ground on the Reform plan, by referring his echeme to a 
Committee of the Cabinet, which is to meet at his house, 
consisting, besides himself, of Granville, Newcastle. Graham, 
Charles AYood, and Palmerston. I am afraid he will propose 
a lower franchise, probably hi., in spite of many warnings 
and the signs of the times, which are very grave and alarm- 
ing — nothing but strikes and deep-rooted discontent on the 
part of the working classes. I am in correspondence wiih 
EUesmere on the subject, and have sent his letters to John 
Russell, who does not appear disposed to admit the force of 
his reasoning against lowering the franchise. This Commit- 
tee w^ill probably be on the whole favorable to a democratic 
measure. Lord John from old prejudices and obstinacy, 
Graham from timidity, Newcastle because he has espoused 
Liberal principles ; Granville wnll be inclined to go with 
Lord John, and Palmerston alone is likely to stand out 
against a democratic scheme, unless Charles Wood should go 



90 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Ghap. IY. 

with him, of whose opinions on the question of Eeform I 
know nothini^, Aberdeen is himself a Reformer, but I hear 
he is resolved not to consent to a 5/. franchise. I confess to 
great misgivings about this project in the present state of 
the country, and dread the further progress of democratic 
power. The success of the great Eeform Bill and the exi)e- 
riences of twenty years without any of the apprehensions of 
the anti-Reformers having been realized, are now in my 
opinion sources of danger, as they create an opinion that 
progress, as it is called, is not only necessary, but perfectly 
safe. It consoles me for growing old that I shall not live to 
see the confusion in which this well-ordered State is likely 
to be involved, the period of peril and suffering it will have 
to go through, and the reaction, which will restore order and 
tranquillity at the expense of that temperate and rational 
freedom, which we alone of all the nations of the earth are 
in possession of. I see no reason why, if we choose reck- 
lessly, and without any cause, to cast away the good we en- 
Joy, we should be exempted from paying the penalty which 
our folly and wickedness would so richly deserve. The above 
question in all its ramifications is infinitely more important 
than the Russian and Turkish quarrel, but there is no say- 
ing how the former may be indirectly and consequentially 
affected through the latter by means of the political differ- 
ences which may arise out of it. Everything now looks 
black in the political horizon, and the war which has begun 
between the principals can hardly fail to extend itself sooner 
or later to the collateral parties. 

November loth. — Yesterday morning having met Claren- 
don on the railway, he from Windsor, 1 from Hillingdon, I 
got into the carriage and went home with him. He told me 
all he had to tell of what he had to go through with the 
conflicting proposals of Palmerston and Aberdeen in the 
Cabinet : the latter as averse as ever to any strong measures, 
and always full of consideration for the Emperor ; the former 
anxious for war, and with the same confidence and rashness 
which were so conspicuous in him during the Syrian ques- 
tion, insisting that nothing will be so easy as to defeat Rus- 
sia, and he now goes the length of urging that none of the 
old treaties between her and the Porte should be renewed. All 
this jactance, however, does not go much beyond words, for he 
evinces no disposition to separate from his colleagues or to in- 
sist on any course which the majority of the Cabinet object to. 



1833.] AN ANECDOTE OF PALMERSTON. 91 

The Emperor of Russia has taken the unusual step of 
writin:? an aut3graph letter to the Queen. Brunnovv, who 
wa3 rather puzzled, took the letter to Aberdeen, and asked 
wliat he was to do with it. Aberdeen told him to take it to 
Clarendon, who sent it to the Queen. She sent it to him to 
read, and he suggested certain heads of an answer, but did 
not communicate the letter, nor the fact of its having been 
received, to any one but Aberdeen. The Queen wrote an 
answer in French, and he sayr, a very good one. 

Cowley has sent him an account of a conversation he 
lately had with the Euperor Napoleon, in which he said 
that the condition of France and the rise in the price of pro- 
visions, so deeply affecting the working classes, made him 
more than ever bent upon preserving peace, and he proposed 
that the Powers should be invited to concur with England 
and France in drawing up a scheme of pacification and 
arrangement, which should be tendered to the belligerents, 
and whichever should refuse to accept it should be treated 
as an enemy. Clarendon said that there were many objec- 
tions to this plan, but he seemed to believe in the sincerity 
of the Emperor's desire for peace, in spite of the opposite 
presumption afforded by Baraguav d'Hilliers' mission, and 
its accompaniment of French officers. He attributes that 
mission to the wounded vanity of France, and the deter- 
mination of the Government to send some man who shall 
dispute the influence of Stratford, and assert that of France. 
The character of Stratford had been fully explained to Bara- 
guay d'Hilliers, and he went, ostensibly at least, with in- 
structions and an intention to act with him in harmony, but 
this the character of the two ambassadors will probably ren- 
der quite impossible. 

The Queen told Clarendon an anecdote of Palmerstou, 
showing how exclusively absorbed he is with forci(/7i politics. 
Her Majesty has been much interested in and alarmed at the 
strikes and troubles in the North, and asked Palmerston for 
details about them, when she found he knew nothing at all. 
One morning, after previous inquiries, she said to liim, 
"Pray, Lord Palmerston, have you any news ?" To which 
he replied, '• No Madame, I have heard nothing ; but it 
seems certain the Turhs have crossed the Danube.'" 

In the afternoon I called on Graham at the Admiralty, 
and had a long talk with him about the Government and its 
prospects, and the disposition and intentions of John Eussell 



93 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. lY. 

and of Palmerston. He is, contrary to custom, very cheer- 
ful and sanguine on these points ; he was apprised of all that 
Lord John has said and done, but except on one occasion, 
just about the time of the prorogation, has had no communi- 
cation with Lord John himself on the subject. He is now 
satisfied that Lord John has abandoned his designs, and has 
made up his mind to go on as he is, and he infers this from 
his frank and friendly conduct about the Eeform Bill, which 
he has not kept to himself, but submitted to a Committee 
for the purpose of bringing it before all his colleagues in a 
very good spirit, and quite willing to have Palmerston on 
this Committee, from whom the greatest opposition was to 
be expected. Graham said their first meeting had gone off 
very pleasantly, and Palmerston had urged much less objec- 
tion than he had expected ; he thinks therefore that his 
own reflections and his knowledge of the difficulties which 
would oppose themselves to his purpose have determined 
Lord John to acquiesce in his present position, nor is he 
afraid of Palmerston separating himself from this Cabinet, 
thinking that at his age he will not speculate so deeply for 
the chance of greater power and a higher place, to be pur- 
chased at the certain sacrifice of all his social relations and 
personal connections, and he therefore expects Palmerston 
will conform to the general sentiments, and decisions of his 
colleagues, both as to foreign policy and to Reform. Gra- 
ham said he approved entirely of Lord John's scheme, and 
thous^ht his proposed measure good and safe. 

November %']tli. — Council at Windsor on Friday 25th. 
The Queen was afiiicted by the Queen of Portugal's death, 
tliou2:h they never saw each other but once when they were 
children. I heard the particulars of the Eeform Bill, which 
(if there is to be one at all) seems as little mischievous as can 
be. It seems to have encountered little or no opposition in 
the Cabinet, and Lord John considers it as having been ac- 
cepted and settled there. Lord Lansdovt^ne has not pro- 
nounced himself positively; but though, no doubt, he dis- 
likes it exceedingly, they think he will not retire ujion it, 
and up to the present time he has indicated no such inten- 
tion. Graham, who is always frightened, told me on Friday 
he was very uneasy lest Lansdowne should decline to be a 
party to it. 

Palmerston has written a letter to Lord John, strong in 
the beginning, denouncing tlie measure as unnecessary and 



18S3.] ADERDEEX'S OBJECTIONS. " 93 

unwise, and complaining of his having originally committed 
his colleagues to it, by declaring his own opinion without 
any previous consultation and concert with them. Then, 
after criticising the Bill (ably, as I am told), he ends by an- 
nouncing that he shall consent to it. He sent copies of this 
letter to Aberdeen and to Lansdowne. 

I brought Clarendon from the station to Downing Street, 
when he told me that he had begun some fresh attempts at 
renewing negotiations. The proposal of the Emperor Napo- 
leon to force terms on the two parties would not do, but ho 
had sent a proposal of some sort (I could not exactly make 
out what), which, contrary to his expectation, Buol had 
agreed to ; but he did not seem very sanguine about any re- 
sult from this beginning. He said nothing could exceed the 
difficulties of the case, nor the embarras.-ments of his own 
position. The Turks are now indisposed to agree to any- 
thing, or to make any concessions whatever, and of course 
the Emperor of Russia neither will nor can make peace and 
Avithdraw, without some plausible satisfaction. Then at 
home the difficulty is just as great between Palmerston, who 
is all for going ahead, and wants nothing less than war with 
Eussia, and Aberdeen, who is in the other extreme — object- 
ing to everything, and proposing nothing. John Russell is 
very reasonable, and agrees almost entirely with Clarendon ; 
but whenever he thinks he is going to be outbid by Palmer- 
ston, is disposed to urge some violent measures also. He 
said he had a regular scene with Aberdeen the other day. 
After this Note (or whatever it was) had been discussed and 
agreed to in the Cabinet, and all settled, Aberdeen came 
into his room, and began finding fault with it, and raising 
all sorts of objections, when Clarendon, out of all patience, 
broke out : "Really, this is too bad. You come now, after 
it has all been settled in the Cabinet where you let it pass, 
and make all sorts of objections. And this is the way you 
do about everything ; you object to all that is proposed, and 
you never suggest anything yourself. What is it you want ? 
Will you say what you would have done ?" He declares he 
said all this with the greatest vivacity, being really exasper- 
rated. Aberdeen had nothing to say, and knocked under. 
The truth seems to be that the attacks upon him in the 
newspapers (though they don't know it) are pretty well jus- 
tified, and very little exaggerated ; nor is the idea of Palmcr- 
ston's real inclination much mistaken. They have by acci- 



94 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA., [Chap. IV. 

dent very nearly hit upon the truth. Aberdeen, it seems, 
objects particularly to have any Conference here, and if there 
is to be anything of the kind, it seems likely to take place at 
Vienna, where, however, somebody would be sent to assist, 
if not to supersede, Westmorland. 

December 10th. — The Protocol Just signed at Vienna 
brings the four Powers together again, and Austria not only 
signed it with alacrity, but Buol told Westmorland if the 
Emperor of Russia was found unmanageable, "Nous irons 
avec voiis jusqu'au bout." The Turks are now desired to 
say on what terms they will make peace, and I expect they 
will reply that they will not make peace at all till the Prin- 
cipalities' are evacuated. It seems very doubtful whether this 
fresh opening will lead to any result between two Powers so 
impracticable as the belligerents. 

The Duke of Bedford has been endeavoring to persuade 
Lord John to reconsider the franchise in his Reform Bill, 
and Lord John tells him not to be afraid of its going too 
low, and that there is more chance of its appearing too nig- 
gardly. Aberdeen said it was not yet settled. Meanwhile, 
the Bill is drawn and privately printed. Lord John consid- 
ers it to have been accepted by the Cabinet, and that he is 
sure of the acquiescence of the two principal dissentients — 
Lansdowne and Palmerston. The former went out of town, 
only saying that he hoped the landed interest would have 
its "due share of influence. Palmerston's letter I have already 
mentioned ; but the other day Lady Palmerston held forth 
to the Duke against the Bill, and said that it was not settled 
at all, but was still under the consideration of the Cabinet ; 
from which he infers that Palmerston is still making or pre- 
pared to make objections and difficulties. Between Reform 
and the Eastern Question, I think this Government would 
infallibly be broken up but from the impossibility of another 
being formed. I am still persuaded Palmerston will not 
try a new combination, and break with all his old friends 
and associates for the purpose of putting himpelf at the 
head of some fresh but unformed combination. Great as his 
ambition is, he will not sacrifice so much to it, and risk so 
much as this would oblige him to do. 

December 12th. — I begin to think that I am after all mis- 
taken as to Palmerston's intentions, and that his ambition 
will drive him to sacrifice everything and risk everything, 
in spite of his age and of all the difficulties he will have to 



1853.] LORD PALMERSTON'S INTENTIONS. 95 

encounter. I have said what passed between the Duke of 
Bedford and Lady Palmerston about Reform. This morn- 
ing the Duke of Bedford came here and told me lie had 
called on Clarendon on Saturday, when he said to Clarendon 
that he was very uneasy about Palmerston, and thought he 
was meditating something, thougli he did not know exactly 
what he was at. Clarendon interrupted him — " Certainly, 
he is meditating breaking up the Government ; in fact, he 
told me so." At this moment it was announced that two 
or three foreign Ministers were waiting to see him, when 
he abruptly broke olf the conference, and they parted. I 
said, " Depend upon it, what Clarendon alluded to was not 
the Reform Bill, but the Eastern Question ; and it is on 
that that Palmerston is making a stir." The Duke said he 
thought so to ; indeed, he was sure of it, because Clarendon 
did not trouble himself about Reform, and he had already 
told him more than once what excessive trouble and annoy- 
ance he had had between the widely opposite views and 
opinions of Aberdeen and Palmerston, and that he had only 
been able to go on at all from the agreement between Lord 
John and himself. However, Lord John is to see Aberdeen 
this morning, and his brother afterwards ; and before the 
day is over we shall learn something more of this disagree- 
able matter. My belief is that the differences between Aber- 
deen and Palmerston have arrived at a height which threat- 
ens a break up, and that, with reference to this occurring. 
Palmerston is also going back on the Reform Question ; that 
if he does separate from the Government, he may reserve to 
himself to work both questions. But I refrain from further 
speculations, as in a few hours they will be resolved into cer- 
tainty of some sort. 

Panshanger, Deccmher lAtJi. — It turned out that Palmer- 
ston had struck on account of Reform, and not (ostensibly, 
at least) about foreign afPairs. John Russell was indignant, 
and inveighed to his brother against Palmerston in terms of 
great bitterness, saying he was absohitely faithless, and no 
reliance to be placed on him. Of this fact these pages con- 
tain repeated proofs, but I own T am amazed at his making 
this flare up on the question of Reform. But his whole 
conduct is inexplicable, and there is no making out what he 
is at. The news of the Turkish disaster in the Black Sea is 
believed, but Government will do nothing about it till they 
receive authentic intelligence and detailed accounts of the 



96 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. ' [Chap. IV. 

occurrence.^ So Clarendon told Eeeve on Monday, but he is 
disposed to take a decisive part if it all turns out to be true ; 
and yesterday Delane had a long conversation "with Aber- 
deen, who owned that if the Russians (as they suppose) at- 
tacked a convoy of transports at anchor, it is a very strong 
case, and he thought war much more probable than it was a 
few days ago, and he did not speak as if he was determined 
in no case to declare it. This does not surprise nae, in spite 
of his previous tone ; for he has gone so far that he may be 
compelled in common consistency to go farther. 

London, December 17th. — Yesterday morning the news 
of Palmerston's resignation was made j^ublic. It took 
everybody by surprise, few having been aware that he ob- 
jected to the Eeform measure in contemplation. I received 
the intelligence at Panshanger, and as soon as I got to town 
went to Clarendon to hear all about it. He had been quite 
prepared for it, Palmerston having told him that he could 
not take this Bill. Clarendon says Palmerston behaved per- 
fectly well, and in a very straightforward way from first to 
last. When he was invited to join the Government, he told 
Aberdeen and Lansdowne that he was afraid the Reform 
Bill would bring about another separation between them. 
When the time arrived for discussing the Bill, and John 
Russell proposed to him to be on the Committee, he said 
that he accepted, because," although he saw no necessity for 
any Reform Bill, and he entirely disapproved of John Rus- 
sell's having committed himself to such a measure, he would 
not (as matters stood) absolutely object to any measure what- 
ever, but would join the Committee, discuss it, state all his 
objections, and endeavor to procure such alterations in it as 
might enable him to accept it. Finding himself unable to 
do this with the Committee, he still waited till the measure 
had been brought before the whole Cabinet ; and when he 
found that his objections were unavailing, and that the ma- 
jority of his- colleagues were resolved to take Lord John's, 
scheme, nothing was left for him but to retire. He said he 
might have consented to a smaller measure of disfranchise- 
ment, and the approioriation of the disposable seats to the 

* fTlie Russian fleet in tha Black Sea attacked and destroyed the Turkish 
squadron in the harbor of Sinope on November 30. TJiis deei-ive event, which 
Was at variance vpitli t'le previous declarati'- -..s of the Emperor of Russia, com- 
pelled the Bntisli and French Governments to order their fleets to enter the 
Black Sea and occupy it. The Russian fleet withdrew within the harbors of 
Sebastopoh] 



1853.] MOTIVES OF LORD PALMERSTON'S RESIGNATION. 97 

counties, but to the enlarged toiu7i representation, and espe- 
cially to the proposed franchise, he could not agree ; and 
moreover he said he was not prepared, at his time of life, 
to encounter endless debates in the House of Commons on 
such a measure. The first time, Clarendon said, he had ever 
heard him acknowledge that ho had a time of life. Clar- 
endon showed me a very friendly letter Palmerston had writ- 
ten to him, expressing regret at leaving them, and say- 
ing he (Clarendon) had a very difficult task before him, 
and, "as the Irishman said, I wish yer Honner well through 
it.'' He has never hinted even at any dissatisfaction as 
to foreign affairs as forming a part of his grounds for re- 
signing. 

Clarendon said he thought it would ere long be the 
means of breaking up the Government, and I thought so 
too ; but, on reflecting more deliberately upon the matter, I 
am disposed to take a different view of the political proba- 
bilit3% and of the part which Palmerston will play. As I 
have been so constantly opposed to him, and have both 
entertained and expressed so bad an opinion of him on a 
great many occasions, I feel the more both bound and in- 
clined to do justice to his conduct upon this one, in which, 
so far as I am informed, he really has been irreproachable. 
The first thing which seems to have suggested itself to every- 
body is that he has resigned with the intention of putting 
himself at the head of the opponents of Reform, of joining 
the Derbyite party, and ultimately coming into office with 
Derby, or forming, if possible, a Government of his own. I 
doubt all this, and judge of his future conduct by his past. 
If he had been actuated by selfish and separate objects of 
ambition, and really contemplated transferring himself from 
the Whig to the Tory party, or setting up an independent 
standard, instead of breaking with this Cabinet on the ques- 
tion of Reform, he would certainly have done so upon the 
Turkish war, as he easily could. He would then have gone 
out amid shouts of applause ; he would have put the Gov- 
ernment into an immense difficulty, and he would have re- 
served to himself to take whatever course he thought fit 
about Reform. He has acted much more honestly, but less 
cunningly for his own interest, supposing that he has the 
views and projects that are attributed to him. Lord Lans- 
downe is placed in great embarrassment, for he agrees en- 
tirely with Palmerston ; and if he acts consistently on his 

5 



98 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IV. 

own convictions^ he will retire too — that is, cease to form a 
part of the Cabinet. Clarendon expects he will do so. 

Hatchford, Decemler 21st. — On Monday when I came to 
town from Goodwood, where I went on Sunday, I found a 
letter from Lady Palmerston, very friendly indeed. She 
said her son William, had told her what I had said to him 
about Palmerston and his resignation, Avhich had. gratified 
her. ■ She then went on to explain why he had resigned, and 
why at this moment instead of waiting longer ; she said he 
would have accepted a Eeform Bill, but wanted Lord John's 
to be altered, had proposed alterations, and written to Aber- 
deen to urge them, and upon Aberdeen's reply that his sug- 
gestions could not be taken, he had no alternative but to 
resign, and he had thought it fairer to the Government to 
do so at once, and give them time to make their arrange- 
ments, than to put it off till the last moment, when Parlia- 
ment was on the point of meeting. I confess I think he 
Avas right in so doing, and I was greatly provoked with the 
*' Times" for attacking him, twitting and sneering at him, 
and finding fault with him for his desertion ; so provoked 
that I wrote a letter to the "Times," which appeared on 
Tuesday, with my opinion thereupon. 

On Tuesday morning I was surprised at receiying a letter 
from Lord Lansdowne, entreating I would tell him what was 
said, and what was the state of public opinion about Palmer- 
ston's resignation, giving me to understand that he was as 
yet undecided what course he should adopt, and should not 
decide at all events till he had seen the Queen next Friday ; 
he also said that he had been greatly surprised at this hap- 
pening "so soon, whatever might have been the case later, 
having occurred (marvellous to say) before there had been 
any decision taken by the Government as such on the whole 
matter, or any ground for me at least to think that issue 
would be joined upon it without that apparently essential 
preliminary." I wrote to him in reply all I had heard of 
the reports and notions floating about, and said I hoped his 
determination would eventually be not to withdraw, and I 
sent him Lady Palmerston's letter to me, which I said 
seemed to me somewhat at variance with his statement, in 
as much as Palmerston evidently considered that the matter 
was settled. I don't understand, however, why he wrote to 
Aberdeen, if the question was still before the Cabinet, and 
not yet definitively settled. Assuming Lord Lansdowne's 



1853.] LADY PALME RSTON'S STATEMENT. 99 

statement to have been correct, Palmerston oiiglit to have 
disputed the matter in the Cabinet, and if overruled there, 
he might have resigned, and not till then, 

Delane went to Aberdeen, and asked him for his version 
of the alfair, when he said at once he had no hesitation in 
saying that the Eastern Question was the cause and the sole 
-cause of Palmerston's resignation ; that he had all along 
been opposing what was done, and might have resigned 
upon it any time for months past, and that but tor that 
question he would have swallowed the Reform Bill. Delane 
observed, if this was true, Palmerston had acted a very 
high-minded and disinterested part. It has been imprudent 
of the Government papers to insist so strenuously that 
Palmerston resigned solely on account of Reform, and that 
there was no difference on foreign policy, because this 
elicited a violent article in the '"Morning Post," insisting 
in turn that the Eastern Question was the real cause of his 
retirement, and everybody will believe that this was inserted 
or dictated by himself. It is strange to hnd myself the 
advocate and apologist of Palmerston, when the preceding 
pages are brimful of censure of his acts and bad opinion of 
his character ; but, whatever prejudices I may have or have 
had against him, they never shall prevent my saying what I 
believe to be true, and doing him ample justice, when I 
think that he is acting honorably, fairly, and conscien- 
tiously. This letter of Lord Lansdowne's has a little shaken 
my convictions, but still I am struck with the fact of his 
having refrained from resigning on the Eastern Question, 
when by so doing he might have damaged the Government 
immensely, and obtained for himself increased popularity 
and considerable power if these were his objects, 

London, December 22d. — I went to town this morning, 
called on Lady Palmerstouj found her in good spirits and 
humor, and vastly pleased at all the testimonies of appro- 
bation and admiration he has received. She exclaimed with 
exultation, " He is always in the right in everything he 
does," a position I could not confirm, and which I did not 
care to dispute. We then talked of the present crisis, when 
to my no small amazement she said that she saw no reason 
now why it should not be made up, and he should not 
remain, that he left the Government with regret, liked his 
office, and had no wish to quit his colleagues, but could not 
consent to such a measure as Lord John had proposed. She 



100 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IV. 

then recapitulated what she wrote to me, and complained 
of Aberdeen's having replied to Palmerston's note in such a 
style of peremptory refusal ; if he had only expressed regret 
at the difference, and proposed a fresh reference to the 
Cabinet, it might have been avoided. Still, she thought if 
they were disposed to be reasonable it was possible to repair 
the breach. Palmerston had never had any answer to his 
letter of resignation, no notice had been taken of it, nor had 
the Queen's acceptance of his resignation ever been conveyed 
to him. She tallied with bitterness of the articles in the 
" Times," and of his resignation having been so hastily pub- 
lished, and said he had all along been very much dissatisfied 
with the conduct of the Eastern Question, and convinced that, 
if his advice had been taken at first, we should not be in our 
present dilemma and embarrassing position, and he had only 
consented to stay in the Government, when overruled in his 
suggestions, because he thought he could nevertheless effect 
some good by remaining, and tender essential aid to Claren- 
don. I expressed the strongest desire that the matter might 
be patched up, and entreated her to try and bring it about. 
Palmerston was gone out, so I did not see him. 

I then went to the Office, and directly wrote to Graham, 
who was at the Cabinet, begging him to see me, and telling 
him I had reason to believe Palmerston was not disinclined 
to stay. Meanwhile Bessborough called on me, and told 
me all the reports from Marylebone and other parts of the 
metropolis, as well as the country ; all represented Palmer- 
ston's popularity to be immense, great enthusiasm about the 
Eastern Question, and profound indifference about Eeform ; 
and he said there was a report that Palmerston was not un- 
likely to stay in, and that it was of the greatest importance 
that he should. He also said that Hayter declared there 
was no chance whatever of their carrying the Eeform Bill in 
the House of Commons, especially if Palmerston headed the 
opposition to it. 

He was hardly gone when Graham came to me. I told 
him all that had passed between Lady Palmerston and me, 
and entreated him to see if something could not be done. 
He said he himself should be too happy to bring it about 
if possible, and he had no personal ground of complaint, 
but he did not know how Lord John might be disposed, 
particularly as Palmerston in one of his letters had spoken 
in very uncourteous terms of him and Aberdeen. He said 



1853] A RECONCILIATION. 101 

it was wonderful how Palmerston, quite unlike most men, 
was often intemperate with his pen, while he was always 
very guarded in his language. In reply to some of the 
things Lady Palmerston had said, he told me tliat the diffi- 
culty was that Palmerston's objections went to the principle 
of the measure, and though the details might still be open 
to discussion, it was impossible they could concede the prin- 
ciples of the measure without dishonor, and this was not to 
be thought of. That with regard to fresh reference to the 
Cabinet, Palmerston had stated all his objections to the 
Cabinet, when they had been considered and overruled, 
therefore another reference to the Cabinet would have been 
useless. He asked me if Palmerston was prepared to give 
up his objections. I said I presumed not, but he must un- 
derstand that I did not know what he was prepared to con- 
cede or require, only what I had repeated, that he was not 
disinclined still to remain if the matter admitted of adjust- 
ment. He said the office was still open, and that the Cabi- 
net then going on was not about filling it up, but entirely 
on the Eastern Question. After a good deal of talk we 
parted, he promising to see what could be done to bring 
about a compromise and reconciliation. 

I then wrote to Lord Lansdowne telling him what had 
passed, and suggested that, as he is to see the Queen to- 
morrow, he should invoke her assistance to settle this affair, 
and so the matter stands. I am satisfied that at this moment 
Palmerston would prefer staying where he is to anything else, 
present or prospective, and he does not wish to embark in 
fresh combinations ; but it is impossible to say what he may 
not do under fresh circumstances, and if he is exposed to all 
the attractions of excessive flattery and the means of obtaining 
great power. If this Government should be overthrown, I 
see no other man who could form one. Derby is in such a 
deplorable state of health that I do not think he could pos- 
sibly undertake it, and though Palmerston's difficulties would 
be great, they would not be insurmountable, and the very 
necessity of having a Government, and the impossibility of 
any other man forming one, would give him great facilities, 
and draw a great many people from various parties to enlist 
under him. It is, therefore, of immense importance that 
there should be a compromise now, for I am strongly of 
opinion that if there is not the Government will not be able 
to go on. What I fear is that, if a negotiation should be 



102 EETGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. 17. 

begun, the jiarties will not come to terms, and neither be 
disposed to make sufficient concessions. Lady Palmerston 
hinted at Aberdeen's going out, which she said he had al- 
ways professed his readiness to do, but I gave her to under- 
stand that if he did, Lord John would insist on taking his 
jDlace, which would not, I apprehend, be more palateable to 
Palmerston than the present arrangement. 

Deceiiiber %4dli. — I went to town this morning to hear 
what was going on. I found Granville who told me there 
was a negotiation on foot, conducted by Newcastle, who had 
been to Palmerston yesterday and discussed the matter. 
Palmerston was to give his answer at twelve to-day ; Gran- 
ville did not think any concessions about Eeform were to be 
made to him, and nothing more than an agreement that the 
whole question should be reconsidered. He was to write a 
letter, saying there had been "a misunderstanding," said he 
was evidently dying to remain, full of interest in foreign 
politics, and could not bear to be out the way of knowing 
and having a concern in all that is going on, and probably 
by no means insensible to the difficulties of another position, 
that of being the leader of an Opposition, and still more to 
the having to form and carry on a Government should that 
Opposition be successful. All this I think was exceedingly 
probable. I then went to Clarendon, where I learned that 
Palmerston had given his answer, and that he meant to stay. 
He had written a letter, not exactly such a one as they could 
have wished, but which must do ; and though it was not yet 
formally settled, it had gone so far that it could not fail now. 
Both Clarendon and Granville told me John Kussell had be- 
haved admirably, which I was glad to hear. Granville thinks 
Palmerston has no rancune against Aberdeen, but a good 
deal against John Russell. Granville said I had made a bad 
selection in writing to Graham on Thursday about Palmer- 
ston's staying in, as of all the Cabinet he was the man most 
against him, and most opposed to his return ; but Clarendon 
said for that very reason he was very glad I had addressed 
myself to Graham, and that I had since written him a strong 
letter, as I did yesterday, setting forth as forcibly as I could 
the expediency of a reconciliation and the danger of Palmer- 
ston's separating himself from them, and the infallible con- 
sequences thereof. 

Walewski has been making a great flare up about the 
article in the " Times," stating that Dundas wanted to 



1853.] BARAGUAY DECLINES TO ENTER TUE BLACK SEA. 103 

pursue the Russian fleet after Sinope, and that Baraguay 
d'Hilliers put his veto on the operation. Clarendon assured 
him the statement was inserted without his privity, and he 
had nothing to do with it. Walewski then asked him to 
authorise a formal contradiction in the "Globe," or to let 
it be officially contradicted in the "Moniteur." Clarendon 
declined the first, and advised against the latter course. I 
offered to speak to Delane about contradicting it in the 
*' Times," which I afterward did. He said the fact was 
true, and he had received it from various quarters, and it 
was useless to contradict it ; but there was no reason the 
''Moniteur" should not do so if they liked, so I sent him to 
Clarendon to talk it over and settle what was to be done to 
smooth the ruffled plumage of the French. 

On Thursday at the Cabinet the resolution was taken 
whicli amounts to war. The French sent a proposal that 
the fleets should go into the Black Sea, repel any Russian 
aggression, and force any Russian ships of war they met 
with to go back to Sebastopol, using force in case of resist- 
ance. We assented to this proposal, and orders were sent 
accordingly. This must produce hostilities of some sort, 
and renders war inevitable. It is curious that this stringent 
measure should have been adopted during Palmerston's ab- 
sence, and that he had no hand in it. It will no doubt ren- 
der the reconciliation more agreeable to him. This incident 
of his resignation and return, which has made such a hubbub 
not only here but all over Europe for several days, is certainly 
extraordinary, and will hardly be intelligible, especially as it 
will hereafter appear that he has withdrawn his resignation 
with hardly any, or perhaps no, conditions. On looking dis- 
passionately at it, it seems to me Palmerston and Aberdeen 
have both been somewhat to blame. Lord Lansdowne left 
town ten days or a fortnight ago, with a distinct understand- 
ing, as he affirms, that the question of the Reform Bill was 
not to be definitively settled till after Christmas, and though 
he was aware of Palmerston's objections, he had no idea he 
would take any decisive step till then. A few days after he 
was gone to Bowood, Palmerston wrote to Aberdeen, a most 
unnecessary and ill-judged act. Aberdeen — instead of refer- 
ring in his answer to the above-named understanding, and 
giving no other answer, replies that he has consulted John 
Russell and Granville, who think that nothing can be pro- 
posed that will remove his objections, and that he agrees 



104 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Ghap. V. 

with them, on which Palmerston sends in his resignation in 
a letter described to be brief and peremptory in its tone. 
All these letters were wrong, and none of tliem ought to 
have been written. I see they (his colleagues or some of 
them) think Palmerston never had really any intention of 
quitting his post, but more suo tried to bully a little, not 
without hopes that he might frighten them into some con- 
cessions on the Keform Bill, and meaning, if he failed, to 
knock under, as he has so often done upon other occasions. 
I am much inclined to suspect there is a great deal of truth 
in this hypothesis, being struck by Lady Palmerston's mild- 
ness and abstinence from violence and abuse, and the evident 
anxiety of both of them for a reconciliation, and again by 
the very easy terms on Avhich he has been induced to stay. 
There has been no exaction or dictation on his part, but, so 
far as appears at present, something very like a surrender. 



CHAPTER V. 

Lord PaImerston''8 Eetum — The Ozar's Designs— Uncertain Prospects— A Dinner of Law- 
yers — Preparations for War — The Keform Scheme modified— Eussian Preparations 
for War — Kntryof the Black Sea — Intrigues of France with Russia — Attacks on Prince 
Albert — Virulence of the Precs — Attitude of Russia — Reluctance on Both sides to en- 
gage in War — Prince Albert's Participation in Affairs of State— Opening of Parliament 
— Vindication of Prince Albert — Offer of Marriage of Prince Napoleon to Princess 
Mary of Cambridge — Publication of the Queen's Speech — The Hesitation of Austria — 
Justification of the War — The IJlue Books — Popularit}^ of the War — Last Efforts for 
Peace— The Emperor Napoleon's Letter — Lord John's Reform Bill — Difficulties aris- 
ing—The Greeks — Objections to the Reform Bill — Postponement of the Reform Bill. 

Boioood, Decemler 26t7i. — I came here to-day through 
town, where I saw en j^^ssant Granville and Clarendon ; 
received a letter this morning from Graham, telling me 
everything was arranged and Palmerston would stay, which 
of course I knew long before. Clarendon thought Newcastle 
had managed it exceedingly well, inasmuch as by this 
mixture of conciliation and firmness he had got Palmerston 
to write and withdraw his resignation, without any condi- 
tions ; indeed. Clarendon considers that Palmerston has 
virtually acceded to all the provisions of Lord John's Bill to 
which he had objected. Whether his actions correspond 
with this idea we shall see hereafter. The letter he has 
written they say is "artful and cunning," but Aberdeen 



1853.] LORD PALMERSTOxV RESUMES OFFICE. 105 

does not appear dissatisfied with it ; and as it is a consider- 
able concession in bim to write any letter at all, tbey are 
right not to quarrel about the expressions. On the whole, 
I am now of opinion that Palmerston will be damaged by 
this proceeding. Nothing could Justify his resignation at 
such a crisis but a case of urgent necessity, and if he really 
was urged to it by such a necessity, he clearly could not be 
justified in recalling his resignation five or six days after- 
ward, finding himself exactly in the same situation as he 
was in before it. It seems to me that he is certainly on 
the horns of this dilemma, that he was either wrong in 
resigning or wrong in returning. I told Lord Lansdowne 
so, but he did not say much in rej^ly ; and I find the lan- 
guage of this place is all favorable to Lord Palmerston, 
which I presume to be from their sympathizing in his 
objections to Reform ; and they throw most of the blame on 
Aberdeen for writing to him the letter he did, in which no 
doubt he erred. However, they are all very glad it is made 
up, and justly think that the less that is said about it 
hereafter the better. I think now that some steps had been 
taken towards a reconciliation even before the Thursday 
when Lady Palmerston spoke to me, and the Queen knew 
on Thursday that the reconciliation was highly probable ; 
for she wrote to Lord Lansdowne that evening, and told 
him he need not come to Windsor on Friday, which letter 
he received just as he was going to set off. The Tories 
and the Radicals are equally puzzled, perplexed, and dis- 
gusted, and do not know what to say. They accordingly 
solace themselves with such inventions and falsehoods as it 
suits their several purposes to circulate. 

Clarendon received a letter from Cowley while I was 
with him, in which he said he sent him a paper tending to 
show that the Emperor of Russia was bent upon the destruc- 
tion of Turkey, and prepared to run every risk, and encounter 
any enemy, in the pursuit of that object. This is, I think, 
very likely ; and what is equally likely that, per clamna per 
ccedes, and with much danger and damage to himself, he will 
accomplish the ruin of the Turk. But all speculation must 
be vague and fallacious as to the results of such a war as is 
now beginning. 

January 3d, 1854. — I returned, from Bowood on Satur- 
day, having had no conversation whatever on politics with 
Lord Lansdowne — and of course I sought none. News 



106 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. 

came there that the Turks had accepted the proposal of 
the Allied Powers to enter into a negotiation, and we are 
now waiting to see what the Emperor of Enssia will be dis- 
posed to do ; but almost everybody thinks he "will refuse to 
treat, and certainly he will never admit, as the preliminary 
condition of negotiation, that no former treaties shall be 
revived. The Cabinet meets to-day for the purpose, I con- 
clude, of resuming the consideration of the Eeform Bill. 
The only thing Lord Lansdowne did say to me Was, that he 
had had several conversations with John Eussell when he 
was at Bowood, and that he thought he had made an im- 
pression on him ; he evidently expected that Lord John 
would make concessions in his Bill which might satisfy, or 
partly so, him and Palmerston. 

January 5th. — I dined on Tuesday with the Chancellor, 
Lord Cranworth : an array of lawyers, the Chancellor of 
Ireland (a coarse, vulgar-looking man, with twitchings in 
his face). Lord Campbell, Alderson, Coleridge, and the 
Solicitor-General (Bethell) ; besides these Aberdeen, Gra- 
ham, and one or two more men. 

I sat next to Graham and had much talk. He said the 
Cabinet that morning had gone oS. easily, and he thought 
matters would proceed quietly now. Palmerston is quite at 
his ease and just as if nothing had happened, which was ex- 
actly like him. Graham thinks the Emperor of Eussia is de- 
termined on war, and will not consent to negotiate ; he said 
he had been as anxious as any man to maintain peace, but if 
we were driven to go to war, he was for waging it with the 
utmost vigor, and inflicting as much injury as we could on 
Eussia, and that we might strike very severe blows. It was 
commonly supposed Sevastopol was unassailable by sea, but 
he was not satisfied of that, as they are not in possession of 
sufficient information to be at all sure about it, but that he 
did not know what a powerful fleet with the aid of steam 
could not accomplish. He was inclined to believe that such 
a fleet might force the entrance to the place and destroy the 
Eussian fleets, but that it would probably cost many ships 
to eifect such an operation. In discussing the probability 
of Eussia and Turkey being brought to terms we agreed that 
the conditions accepted by the Turks should prove a suffi- 
cient basis. When I asked him whether this would not sat- 
isfy even Palmerston, and whether he would not be desirous 
of peace if it could be so brought about, he said he thought 



1854.] PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 107 

not, that Palmerston's politics were always personal, and 
that nothing would satisfy him now but to humiliate the 
Emperor. 

Yesterday afternoon I saw Clarendon at the Foreign 
Office. He said the Cabinet went off smoothly enough, and 
Palmerston did not appear dissatisfied ; confirmed what 
Graham said of his easy manner — no awkwardness or re- 
serve. Aberdeen had written to him in answer to his letter 
recalling his resignation, saying he wondered he should have 
thought the matter of the Eeform Bill final ; and John Ens- 
sell, when it was all over, called on him. The alterations in 
the Reform Bill were principally these : to extend somewhat 
the disfranchisement and to give more of the seats to the 
counties (which was what both Lord Lansdowne and Palm- 
erston wished), and to reduce the county franchise from 20 
to 10, taking Locke King's plan, the town franchise to be 
6/., with three years' rating, as originally proposed. This 
is intended to admit the working classes ; as Clarendon said, 
i\\Q principle of the last Reform Bill having been to exclude 
them, and this to admit them. It seems now that Lans- 
downe and Palmerston will not dissent from this plan, 
though they do not like it. The various propositions were 
put to the vote seriatim in the Cabinet and carried nem. 
diss., so that, instead of everything having been conceded to 
Palmerston (as the lying newspapers proclaimed), nothing 
has been ; and he has, on the contrary, knocked under. 

Clarendon showed me the Note submitted to the Turkish 
Government with the proposals as the basis of negotiations, 
to which we have not yet received a formal answer ; but 
from a confused telegraphic message they think the Turks 
have accepted them. These terms will then have to go to 
St. Petersburg. But meanwhile the notification to the Em- 
peror of the orders to our fleets was to reach St, Petersburg 
this day, and Clarendon thinks it exceedingly likely this will 
produce an immediate declaration of war on his part. His 
warlike preparations are enormous, and it is said that the 
Church has granted him a loan of four and a half millions to 
defray them. I told Clarendon what Graham had said to 
me of Palmerston's disposition. He said he did not know, 
but it was not unlikely, and quite true about personal mo- 
tives always influencing his conduct ; and that he had always 
pleased himself with the reflexion that the downfall of Louis 
Philippe might be traced to the Montpensier marriage, which 



108 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. Y. 

had really been the remote cause of it. G-raham had told 
me that "Stratford was now really anxious for peace, for he 
began to see the possibility of war bringing about the sub- 
stitution of French influences at Constantinople in place of 
Russian, and of the two he inflnitely preferred the latter. 
Clarendon confirmed this. 

January 6th. — All going on very amicably in the Cabi- 
net, and Pam and Johnny the best friends possible, cutting 
their jokes on each other, and Palmerston producing all his 
old objections to the Eeform Bill just as if it Avas discussed 
for the first time. From what has been settled in regard to 
the fleets at Constantinople I think we are running an enor- 
mous risk of some great catastrophe.^ It appears that 
Admiral Hamelin declared it was impossible to enter the' 
Black Sea with safety, and Baraguay d'Hilliei's agreed with 
him. Dundas was of the same opinion, but said he was ready 
to go if ordered. Stratford was not convinced of the danger 
as Baraguay d'Hilliers was. Before the opinion of the French 
Admiral could reach Paris orders were sent out for the fleets 
to enter, and though some discretion is left to the Admirals, 
tlie orders are so precise that it is extremely probable they 
will obey them in spite of the danger, great as it is ; for the 
Black Sea is so dark they can take no observations, and so 
deep it cannot be sounded, perpetual fogs (which make the 
darkness), and no harbor where the fleets can take refuge. 
If the fleets should meet with any serious disaster, the indig- 
nation aud clamor here would be prodigious, and the most 
violent accusations would be levelled at the Government. It 
would be said that they would not let the fleets go during 
the summer and safe seasons, when they could have done 
anything they pleased ; but, having allowed the Sinope affair 
to take place, and failed to bring about peace, they now send 
the fleets when they can do no good and prevent no mischief, 
and only expose them to damage or destruction. 

Broadlands, January 8th. — I came here on Friday ; no- 
body is here but the Flahaults and Azeglio ; I walked with 

1 [On November 30 the Russian fleet from Sebastopol attacked tlie Tui-tisli 
squadron in the harbor of Sinope and destroyed it. It was this violent action 
on the part of Russia that at once decided tiie British and French Governments 
to occupy the Black Sea with their fleets. The Russian ships withdrew within 
the harbor of Sebastopol, which they never left again. I believe that Admiral 
Dundas aud Admiral Lyons iiroposed to enter the Black Sea at once and inter- 
cept the Russian vessels' before tliey could reach Sebastopol, but this proposal 
was overraled by the French officers, who were disinclined to act until they I'e- 
ceived peremptory orders from the Emperor.] 



1864.] NEWSPAPER ATTACKS ON PRINCE ALBERT. 109 

Palmerston yesterday and talked of the Turkish question. 
He thinks the Emperor will not declare war on receiving 
news of the orders to the fleets, but send some temporizing 
answer. He said that if these orders had been sent four 
months ago, the whole thing would have been settled, which 
may or not be true ; he is very confident of the success of 
our naval operations, and of the damage we may do to Eus- 
sia ; he has never alluded to Reform or anything connected 
with it, and is in very good humor. 

January Ibth. — I have never yet noticed the extraordi- 
nary run there has been for some weeks past against the 
Court, more particularly the Prince, which is now exciting 
general attention, and has undoubtedly produced a consider- 
able effect throughout the country. It began a few weeks 
ago in the press, particularly in the ''Daily News" and the 
"Morning Advertiser," but chiefly in the latter, and was 
immediately taken up by the Tory papers, the "Morning 
Herald" and the "Standard," and for some time past they 
have poured forth article after article, and letter after letter, 
full of the bitterest abuse and all sorts of lies. The " Morn- 
ing Advertiser" has sometimes had five or six articles on the 
same day all attacking and maligning Prince Albert. Many 
of these are very vague, but the charges against him are 
principally to this effect, that he has been in the habit of 
meddling improperly in public affairs, and has used his in- 
fluence to promote objects of his own and the interests of his 
own family at the exiaense of the interests of this country ; 
that he is German and not English in his sentiments and 
principles ; that he corresponds with foreign princes and 
with British Ministers abroad without the knowledge of the 
Government, and that he thwarts the foreign policy of the 
Ministers when it does not coincide with his own ideas and 
purposes. He is particularly accused of having exerted his 
influence over this Government to })revent their taking the 
course which they ought to have done with regard to Tur- 
key, and of having a strong bias toward Austria and Russia 
and against France. Then it is said that he is always pres- 
ent when the Queen receives her Ministers, which is uncon- 
stitutional, and that all the papers pass through his hands 
or under his eyes. He is accused of interfering with all the 
departments oi government, more particularly with the 
Horse Guards, and specifically with the recent transactions 
and disagreements in that office, which led to the retirement 



no REIGN OF QTTEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. 

of General Brown, the Adjutant-General. Then he and the 
Queen are accused of having got up an intrigue with foreign 
Powers, Austria particularly, for getting Palmerston out of 
office last year ; that she first hampered him in the Foreign 
Office, by insisting on seeing his despatches before he sent 
them off, and then that she compelled John Eussell to dis- 
miss him on the ground of disrespectful conduct to herself, 
when the real reason was condescension to the wishes of Aus- 
tria, with which Power the Prince had intimately connected 
himself. Charges of this sort, mixed up with smaller col- 
lateral ones, have been repeated day after day with the ut- 
most virulence and insolence by both the Eadical and the 
Tory journals. For some time they made very little impres- 
sion, and the Queen and Prince were not at all disturbed by 
them ; but the long continuance of these savage libels, and 
the effect which their continual refutation has evidently pro- 
duced throughout the country, have turned their indifference 
into extreme annoyance. I must say I never remember any- 
thing more atrocious or unjust. Delane went to Aberdeen 
and told him that immense mischief had been done, and that 
he ought to know tliat the effect produced was very great 
and general, and offered (if it was thought desirable) to take 
up the cudgels in defence of the Court. Aberdeen consulted 
the Prince, and they were of opinion that it was better not 
to put forth any defence, or rebut such charges in the press, 
but to wait till Parliament meets, and take an opportunity 
to repel the charges there. One of the papers announced 
that a Liberal member of Parliament intended to bring the 
matter forward when Parliament meets, but I do not expect 
he will make his appearance. At present nobody talks of 
anything else, and those who come up from distant parts of 
the country say that the subject is the universal topic of dis- 
cussion in country towns and on railways. It was currently 
reported in the Midland and Northern counties, and actually 
stated in a Scotch paper, that Prince Albert had been com- . 
mitted to the Tower, and there were people found credulous 
and foolish enough to believe it. It only shows how much 
malignity there is among the masses, which a profligate and 
impudent mendacity can stir up, when a plausible occasion 
is found for doing so, and how "the mean are gratified by 
insults on the high." It was only the other day that the 
Prince was extraordinarily popular, and received wherever 
he went Avith the strongest demonstration of public favor. 



1854.] VACILLATION OF THE FREJ^CH. HI 

and now it would not be safe for him to present himself any- 
where in public, and very serious apprehensions are felt lest 
the Queen and he should be insulted as they go to open Par- 
liament a fortnight hence. In my long experience I never 
remember anything like the virulence and profligacy of the 
press for the last six months, and I rejoice that Parliament 
is going to meet and fair discussion begin, for nothing else 
can in the slightest degree check it, and this, it may be 
hoped, will. 

January IGtIi. — The attacks on the Prince go on with 
redoubled violence, and the most absurd lies are put forth 
and readily believed. It is very difficult to know what to 
do, but the best thing will be a discussion in the House of 
Commons — if possible, in both Houses. It is now said that 
Sir Eobert Peel is going to raise one. Clarendon told me 
yesterday that he should not be surprised if the Emperor of 
Russia were to recall Brunnow and not Kisselcff, as he is 
more particularly incensed against England, knowing very 
well that we have acted consistently and in a straightforward 
direction throughout, while the French have been continu- 
ally vacillating, and have kept up a sort of coquetry with 
him ; for example, Castelbajac congratulated the Emperor 
on the Sinojje affair, and said he did so as a Minister, a 
soldier, and a Christian. A pretty Government to depend 
on, and which our stupid and ignorant press is lauding to 
the skies for its admirable and chivalrous conduct as com- 
pared to ours ! 

January ^ist. — For some days past the Tory papers have 
relaxed their violence against the Court, while the Radical 
ones, especially the *' Morning Advertiser," have redoubled 
their attacks, and not a day passes without some furious 
article, and very often five or six articles and letters, all in 
the same strain. It is not to be denied or concealed that 
these abominable libels have been greedily swallowed all 
over the country and a strong impression produced. The 
press has been infamous, and I have little doubt that there 
is plenty of libellous matter to be found in some of the 
articles, if it should be deemed advisable for the Attorney- 
General to take it up. There can be little doubt that the 
Tory leaders got alarmed and annoyed at the lengths to 
which their papers were proceeding, and have taken 
measures to stop them. The Radical papers nothing can 
stop, because they find their account in the libels ; the sale 



112 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. 

of the ''Advertiser" is enormously increased since it has 
begun this coarse, and, finding perfect immunity, it increases 
every day in audacity and virulence. One of the grounds of 
attack (in the "Morning Herald" and ''Standard" princi- 
j)ally) has been the illegality of the Prince being a Privy 
Councillor. In reply to this I wrote a letter (in my own 
name) showing what the law and practice are, but incautious- 
ly said the argument had been advanced by a member of the 
Carlton Club, whereas it was in fact a member of the Con- 
servative, and I had imagined the two Clubs were the same. 
This mistake drew down on me various letters, attacking and 
abusing me, and for several days the "Morning Herald " has 
been full of coarse and stupid invectives against me, supplied 
by correspondents, who, from the details in their letters, 
must be persons with whom I live in great social intimacy. 
They are, however, of a very harmless description, and too 
dull to be effective. 

January 25th. — I wrote a letter in the " Times" (signed 
Juvenal), showing up the lies of the " Morning Advertiser," 
and how utterly unworthy of credit such a paper is. I find 
Palmerston and Aberdeen have come to an understanding as 
to what shall be said in the way of explanation, which is a 
good thing. It is not to be much, and they will tell the 
same story. One faint ray of hope for peace has dawned. 
The Emperor on receiving our Note has not recalled Brunnow, 
but ordered him to ask for explanations, and he is only to 
withdraw if the answer is of a certain tenor. Clarendon told 
him he could not give him an answer at the moment, and 
Seymour had said in the P. S. to his last despatch, "For 
God's sake don't give Brunnow any answer for three days." 
It is clearly one of two things — the Emperor meditates 
making peace, or he wants to gain time. The fact is, he has 
got the ansiver, for our instructions to the Admirals (which 
were communicated to him) explain our intentions. In a 
few days more we must receive his reply to the j)acific 
overture. 

January 2Wi. — Brunnow has not received his answer, but 
is to have it on Tuesday, when I imagine he will announce 
his departure. Kisseleif has not had his either, and there 
is some disagreement as to the answers betv/een us and 
the French Government. Clarendon has sent to Paris the 
answer he proposes to give, but the French wish not to give 
Kisseleff any answer at all, nor even to tell him what it 



1854.] COUNT ORLOFF'S MISSION TO VIENNA. 113 

is, but to send their answer through their Ambassador at 
Petersburg, to which Clarendon strenuously objects. This 
is only for the purpose of delay, the Emjseror Napoleon 
being so reluctant to go to war, and anxious to put off the 
evil day as long as he can. It is not wonderful, for the 
accounts of the distress in France, the stagnation of trade, 
and the financial embarrassments, and the consequent alarm 
that prevails as well as suffering, make it very natural that 
the Government should shrink from plunging into a war 
the duration of which is doubtful, but the expense certain. 
Colloredo told me the other day that he thought Orloff's 
mission to Vienna afforded a good prospect of peace, because 
ho was sure Orloff would not have accepted the mission 
unless he had really expected to bring it to a successful 
issue, but Clarendon told me last night that Orloff is only 
empowered to propose the same conditions which the Em- 
])eror originally insisted on, and that his real object is to 
detach Austria and Prussia from the alliance, by any means 
he can and by offering them any terms they please. 

The attacks on the Prince are subsiding, except from the 
"Morning Advertiser," which goes doggedly on in spite of 
its lies being exposed. John Russell told me the other day 
that soon after the Queen's marriage she asked Melbourne 
whether the Prince ought to see all the papers and know 
everything. Melbourne consulted him about it, and he 
thinks that he consulted the Cabinet, but is not quite sure 
of this. However, Melbourne and Lord John (and the whole 
Cabinet if he did consult them) agreed that it was quite 
proper she should show him and tell him everything, and 
that was the beginning of his being mixed up in public 
affairs. Why he did not then begin to be j)resent at her in- 
terviews with her Ministers I do not know, but that practice 
began when Peel came in, and Lord John said he found it 
established when he came back, and he saw no objection to 
it. He told me last night that the Queen had talked to him 
about the present clamor, which of course annoyed her, and 
she said, if she had had the Prince to talk to and employ in 
explaining matters at the time of the Bedchamber quarrel 
with Peel, that affair would not have happened. Lord John 
said he thought she must have been advised by somebody to 
act as she did, to which she replied with great candor and 
naivete, "No, it was entirely my own foolishness." This is 
the first time I have heard of her acknowledfirinff that it was 



114 REIGN OF QTJEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. 

"foolishness," and is an avowal creditable to her sense. 
Lord John said, when Lord Spencer was consulted on the 
matter he replied, "It is a bad ground for a Whig Govern- 
ment to stand on, but as gentlemen you can't do otherwise." 

February \d. — Parliament met yesterday, a greater crowd 
than usual to see the procession. The Queen and Prince 
were very well received, as well as usual, if not better ; but 
all the enthusiasm was bestowed on the Turkish Minister, 
the mob showing their sympathy in his cause by vociferous 
cheering the whole way. The night went off capitally for 
the Government in both Houses, In the Lords Derby made 
a slashing speech, but very imprudent, and played into Aber- 
deen's hands, who availed himself thereof very well, and 
made a very good answer, which is better to read than it was 
to hear. Derby afforded him a good oj^portunity of vindi- 
cating the Prince, which he did very effectively, and then 
Derby followed him and joined in the vindication, but he 
clumsily allowed Aberdeen to take the initiative. Clarendon 
answered Clanricarde, who was hostile, but not very bitter ; 
the former showed how much he suffers from want of prac- 
tice and facility. I thought he would have failed in the 
middle, but he recovered himself and went on. Derby was 
put into a great rage by Aberdeen's speech, and could not 
resist attacking me (whom he saw behind the Throne). He 
attacked my letter (signed C), in which I had pitched into 
the Tories for their attacks on the Prince. I saw his people 
turn round and look toward me, but I did not care a fig, and 
was rather pleased to see how what I wrote had galled them, 
and struck home. In the Commons the Government was 
still more triumphant. The Opposition were disorganized 
and feeble ; all who spoke on that side took different views, 
and very little was said. John Kussell made a very good 
speech, and took the bull by the horns about the Prince, en- 
tered at once on the subject, and delivered an energetic vin- 
dication of and eulogium on him in his best style. It was 
excellent, and between his speech and Aberdeen's and all 
those who chimed in, that abomination may be considered 
to be destroyed altogether, and we shall probably hear no 
more of it. 

This evening told me a secret that surprised me 

much. I asked him casually if he knew for what purpose 
Prince Napoleon was gone to Brussels, when he told me that 
he was gone to try and get King Leopold to use his influence 



1854.] OFFER OF MARRIAGE TO PRINCESS MARY. 115 

here to bring about his marriage with the Princess Mary, the 
Duke of Cambridge's sister ; that for a long time past Palm- 
erstoii had been strongly urging this match with the Queen, 
and had written heaps of letters to press it, having been in 
constant communication about it with Walewski and the 
Emperor himself. They had made such a point of it that 
the Queen had thought herself obliged to consult the Prin- 
cess Mary herself about it, who would not listen to it. The 
neo'otiator did not make the proposal, more palateablc, and 
he did not recommend himself the more, by suggesting that 
such a match was very preferable to any little German prince. 
It is incredible that he siiould have mixed himself in an 
affair that he could hardly fail to know must be very dis- 
agreeable to the Qaeen, besides that the Princess is not likely 
to sacrifice her country and her position for such a specula- 
tion, so hazardous and uncertain at best, and involving im- 
mediate obligations and necessities at which her pride could 
not fail to revolt. 

February 2d. — The above story, put together with some 
other things, leads to strange conjectures about Palmerston, 
which seem to justify the suspicions and convictions of the 
Court and others about him. I have before alluded to his 
intimate connection with Walewski, and the notorious favor 
with which he is regarded by the Emperor, Avho considers 
him as his great appui here. 

Before proceeding I must, however, refer to another mat- 
ter, which seems to have no connection with it. There is 
always great anxiety on the part of the press to get the 
Queen's Speech, so as to give a sketch of it the morning of 
the day when it is made, and those who do not get it are very 
jealous of those who do. There has been great bother about 
it on some former occasions, once particularly, because one 
of the Derbyites gave it to their paper, the *' Morning Her- 
ald," it having been communicated in strict confidence, and 
according to recent custom, to the leaders of the party. The 
other day Aberdeen refused to give it even to the ''Times," 
and of course to any other paper, and he begged Palmerston 
not to send it to the '* Morning Post," which is notoriously 
his paper. Nevertheless, the Speech appeared in the '• Times," 
and what seemed more extraordinary, in the "Morning Ad- 
vertiser," the paper which has been the fiercest opponent of 
the Government, and the most persevering and virulent of 
the assailants of the Prince. How these papers got the 



116 REIGX OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. V. 

Speech nobody knows, but as there were four dinners, at 
which at least a hundred men must have been present, it is 
easy to imagine that some one of these may have communi- 
cated it. Delane has friends in all parties, and he told me 
that he had no less than three offers of it, and therefore he 
had no difficulty. But how did the "Morning Advertiser" 
come by it ? It is politically opposed to both the Ministry 
and the Derbyites ; but it must have got the Speech from 
some person of one or the other party, with whom it has 
some community of interest or object. The run upon the 
Prince was carried on equally by the " Morning Herald " and 
the " Morning Advertiser" till within ten days of the meet- 
ing of Parliament, when the former was stopped ; the latter 
never ceased. I have heard it surmised more than once that 
these attacks proceeded from Paris, and were paid for by the 
Emperor Louis Napoleon, but I never could believe it. The 
other day I met M. Alexandre Thomas at dinner at Marble 
Hill, and we came to town together. He told me he had no 
doubt the abuse of the Prince was the work of the Emperor, 
and paid for by him. It did not make much impression on 
me at the moment; but now, putting all these things together, 
I cannot help partaking in the opinion that the whole thing 
has been got up, managed, and paid for by Louis Napoleon, 
Walewski, and another person here. 

Brunnow received his answer yesterday, with many civili- 
ties and regrets, de part et d' mitre. Orloff as we hear has 
failed in his mission to cajole the Austrian Government, but 
non constat that Austria will act a firm part against Russia. 
If she would only announce her intention to do so, the mat- 
ter would probably be settled ; for Eussia would, as we be- 
lieve, certainly come to terms, if she was sure of Austria 
acting against her, so that, in fact, Austria holds the decis- 
ion in her own hands, and the greatest service she can do to 
Eussia herself would be to compel her to surrender, as she 
may still do with an appearance of credit and dignity. 

February 9t7i. — Nobody now thinks of anything but of 
the coming war and its vigorous prosecution. The national 
blood is uj:), and those who most earnestly deprecated war 
are all for hitting as hard as we can now that it is forced 
upon us. The publication of the Blue Books has relieved 
the Government from a vast amount of prejudice and sus- 
picion. The public judgment of their management of the 
Eastern Question is generally very favorable, and impartial 



1854.] PUBLICATION OF OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. II7 

people applaud their persevering efforts to avert war. and 
are satisfied that everything was done that the national 
honor or dignity required. I have read through the thick 
volumes, and am satisfied that there is on the whole no case 
to be made against the Government, though there are some 
things that might perhaps have been better done ; but what 
is there of any sort, or at any time, of which as much may 
not be said when Ave have been made wiser by experience 
and events ? These Books are very creditable in the great 
ability they display. As Lord Ellenborough said in the 
House of Lords, the case had been most ably conducted, 
both by Government and its agents. Clarendon's despatches 
are exceedingly good, and in one respect greatly superior to 
Palmerston's when he was at the Foreign Office : they are 
very measured and dignified, and he never descends to the 
scolding, and the taunts, and sarcasms in which the other 
delighted. Pa^merston always wrote as if his object was to 
gain a victory in a war of words, and have the best of an 
argument ; Clarendon, on the contrary, kec})s steadily in 
view a great political object, and never says a word but with 
a view to attain it, Stratford's despatches are very able, and 
very well written, but they leave the impression (which we 
know to be the truth), that he has said and done a great deal 
more than we are informed of ; that he is the real cause of 
this war, and that he might have prevented it, if he had 
chosen to do so, I have no doubt whatever. His letters have 
evidently been studiously composed with reference to the 
Blue Book, and that he may appear in a popular light. I 
find he has been all the time in correspondence with Palm- 
erston, who, we may be sure, has incited him to fan the 
flame, and encourage the Turks to push matters to extremi- 
ties. I should like to know what Palmerston would have 
said, when he was at the Foreign Office, if one of his col- 
leagues had corresponded with any one of his Ministers 
abroad, in a sense differing from that in which he himself 
instructed him. The wonderful thing is the impunity which 
he continues to enjoy, and how, daring and unscrupulous as 
he is, and determined to have his own way, he constantly 
escapes detection and exposure. The good case which the 
Government has put forward, and the approach of war, 
have apparently extinguished or suspended all opposition, 
and the Session, which everybody expected to be so stormy 
and dangerous, bids fair to be as easy as possible. Great 



118 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. 

difference of opinion exists as to the wisdom of committing 
our Baltic fleet to Charles Napier. It was, however, de- 
cided at the Cabinet yesterday that he should have it,^ and 
we have got a very powerful squadron ready. The war is 
certainly very popular, but I don't think its popularity will 
last long when we begin to pay for it, unless we are encour- 
aged and compensated for our sacrifices by some very flatter- 
ing successes. 

February 15th. — Several days ago there was a short dis- 
cussion in the House of Lords, in which the Government 
did not cut a good figure. Aberdeen made a declaration in 
favor of peace, saying "war was not inevitable," which pro- 
duced an explosion against him, and it was so imprudent in 
Mm, and so calculated to mislead, that Clarendon insisted 
on his rising again and saying that no negotiations were 
going on, threatening to do so himself if Aberdeen did not. 
He complied, but the whole thing produced a bad effect, al- 
though there are no negotiations to which we are a party. 
Austria is making a new attempt with the Emperor, to 
which she was encouraged by Orloff before he went. We 
are satisfied with the conduct of Austria, but though she 
has rejected the Russian overtures, she will not engage to 
join us against Eussia in certain contingencies. If she 
would do this, it would most probably settle the affair, and 
make tlie Emperor agree to reasonable terms. 

This morning appears in all the newspapers the auto- 
graph letter of the Emperor Napoleon to the Emperor 
Nicholas, which has been so much talked of. If the Em- 
peror of Eussia at once closes with it, he will place us in 
a great dilemma, but it may produce peace. On Sunday 
Clarendon told me all about this letter. The Emperor 
took it into his head to write it, and sent a copy here 
for the approval of our Grovernment. Clarendon made 
many objections, particularly to the suggestion of a simul- 
taneous withdrawal of the Eussian troops and the allied 
fleets, and to the separate negotiation of Turkey, two points 
we had all along laid great stress upon. Walewski returned 
the letter with the objections raised by us, and soon after 
informed Clarendon that the letter had been altered accord- 
ing to our suggestions, and the objectionable parts omitted ; 

1 [There was a question of appointing Lord Dundonald, a far abler man; 
but he was seventy-nine, and besides he made it a condition that he should be 
alloT^ed to destroy Cronstadt by some chemical process of his own invention.] 



1854.] LOUD JOHN'S REFORM BILL. 119 

but he did not bring him the amended letter. Clarendon 
wrote to Cowley, and said what had passed, and that he 
was glad the alterations had been made, but was sur- 
prised the letter, as altered, had not been shown to him. 
Cowley told Drouyn de Lhuys, who said they had sent the 
letter to Walewski, and he could not think why Clarendon 
had not seen it, and he wrote to Walewski desiring him to 
take it to Clarendon. He did so, when, much to his annoy- 
ance as well as surprise, he found that they had only made a 
few verbal alterations, and left the really objectionable parts 
nearly the same as before. This may put us in a very awk- 
ward position. If the Emperor Nicholas agrees, we must 
either agree also to what we entirely disapprove, or disavow 
the French, and perhaps separate from them ; and it will be 
very embarrassing if the Government are asked in Parlia- 
ment whether they were a i)arty to this letter and its pro- 
posals. Clarendon told me this was only one of many 
instances in which the conduct of the French had been very 
louche and insincere. He thinks this more attributable to 
Drouyn than to his master, and Walewski has behaved with 
great loyalty and straightforwardness ; but hardly a week 
had passed that he has not had to complain of something 
done by the French Government in a separate or clandestine 
manner, or of some proposal which they ought not to make, 
ans this makes one of the difficulties of the position of which 
nobody is aware — a fine prospect to be married to such a 
people on a great question ; but what can be expected from 
the Government of such a Sovereign and such Ministers ? It 
confirms my long settled opinion, that we are always in ex- 
treme danger of being thrown over by them. With regard 
to the whole question (and omitting these details) the 
Emperor Napoleon has behaved well enough to us ; for he 
has adhered steadily to the joint policy, though it is his 
interest to maintain peace, and public opinion in France 
runs as strongly that way as hero it runs in the opposite 
direction. 

The day before yesterday John Eussell introduced his 
Eeform Bill, having resisted the most urgent representations 
and entreaties to postpone it. His speech was very tame, 
and nothing could be more cold than its reception. The few 
remarks that were made were almost all against it, or par- 
ticular parts of it, and it has excited no enthusiasm in any 
quarter. The prevailing impression is that it will not pass 



120 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. 

if it is persisted in. If any Eeform Bill were to be proposed 
at all, this does not seem to be a very bad measure, and some 
points in it are good ; but nobody wanted any measure, and 
the few Eadicals who do, do not care for the particular 
measures Lord John proposes, and ask for other things 
which he will not hear of, so that he offends and alarms the 
Conservatives without conciliating the Liberals, and he dis- 
gusts and provokes his own adherents by his refusal to defer 
his Bill. Palmerston and his clique are sure to abuse it, and 
to employ all the underhand means they can to stir uj) oppo- 
sition to it. 

February 20fh. — John Russell answered the questions put 
in the House of Commons about the Emperor Napoleon's 
letter very dexterously, telling the truth, but in a way not 
offensive to the Emperor. He also made an excellent speech 
on the debate on the Blue Books, brought on by Layard in 
a bitter speech very personal against Clarendon. The 
House of Commons as well as the country are so exces- 
sively warlike that they are ready to give any number of 
men and any amount of money, and seem only afraid the 
Government may not ask enough. I expect we shall have 
had quite enough of it before we have done with this ques- 
tion, and that our successes and the effect produced on 
Eussia will not be commensurate with the prevailing ardor 
and expectation here. The most serious of all difficulties 
seems to be rapidly coming, the insurrection of the Greek 
population ; and this is a matter which has already caused a 
good deal of difference of opinion and debate in the Cabinet, 
one half wanting to assist in putting down the Greeks, the 
other half opposing this scheme. The danger of attacking 
the Greeks is, that we should thereby throw them at once 
into the arms of Eussia, whereas the true policy is to persuade 
them if possible to be quiet, and induce them to look up to us 
for protection and future support. It is an element in the 
question of great importance, and very difficult to deal with. 
It is disgusting to hear everybody and to see all writers 
vying with each other in laudation of Stratford Canning, who 
has been the principal cause of the war. They all think that, 
if he had been sincere in his desire for peace, and for an 
accommodation with Eussia, he might have accomplished it, 
but on the contrary he was bent on bringing on war. He 
said as much to Lord Bath, who was at Constantinople. 
Lord Bath told him he had witnessed the fleets sailing into 



1854.] LOED CLARENDON'S SrEECH. 121 

the Black Sea, when he replied, " You have brought some 
good news, for that is tuar. The Emperor of Russia chose to 
make it a personal quarrel Avith me, and now I am revenged." 
This Lord Bath wrote to Lady Ashburton, who told Claren- 
don. I asked Jolm Eussell yesterday why he sent Stratford 
back to Constantinople. He said when he sent him the 
quarrel was between France and Eussia, and only about the 
Holy Places ; they knew nothing there of MenschikoU's de- 
mands, and nobody was so qualified as Stratford to assist in 
settling the original affairs. 

Fehriiary 25ih. — Last night Clarendon made a capital 
speech in the House of Lords, far superior to any he ever 
made before, and the best that has yet been made in defence 
of tlie Ministerial policy. He has got on wonderfully since 
the Session began, each of his speeches being much better 
than the preceding one, till at last he has made one of very 
great merit and power, as all admit. ' It was spirited, digni- 
fied and discreet. I began to fear he would never get over 
the misfortune of his want of early practice, and never excel 
as a speaker ; but this speech was so good, that I now hope 
he will, having acquired confidence and facility, speak up to 
the level of his ability. The rage for this war gets every day 
more vehement, and nobody seems to fear anything, but that 
we may not spend money and men enough in waging it. 
The few sober people who have courage enough to hint at 
its being impolitic and uncalled for are almost hooted down, 
and their warnings and scruples are treated with indignation 
and contempt. It does now appear as if Austria had made 
up her mind to act with us, and tliat we may depend upon 
her. The French made known to the Austrian Government 
some time ago that, in the alternative of her taking a hostile 
part, she must expect to be attacked in Italy, and Clarendon 
early in the business pointed out to Colloredo all the serious 
consequences his Government had to apprehend in all parts 
of her dominions if she abetted Eussia. With a war so 
popular, and supported cordially by Parliament, and a flour- 
ishing revenue and trade, Government would look round 
on a cloudless horizon, if it were not for the Eeform Bill, 
which is a matter replete with uncertainty, difficulty, and 
danger. Nobody has an idea whether it will be carried in 
the House of Commons ; almost all the friends of Govern- 
ment want Lord John to withdraw it, and the Cabinet is 
divided on the subject. Lord John, Graham, and Aberdeen 
6 



122 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. 

being strongly in favor of pressing it on at all hazards^ Palm- 
erston yiolently against. He has now reproduced all his own. 
objections and arguments against the Bill itself, as well as 
against forcing it on now, quite justified in the latter, but 
unjustifiable in the former course. Having once knocked 
under, and come back to office, consenting to swallow it, 
however reluctantly, it is too late to cavil at the Bill itself ; 
but he may consistently and properly unite his voice with 
the voices of all prudent and moderate men, and strenuously 
resist its being persevered in at this moment against a feel- 
ing and opinion which are all but universal. On the whole, 
I rather expect (but with much doubt) that Lord John will 
yield to the general sentiment, and consent to postpone it. 

February %ltli. — We are on the very verge of a Minis- 
terial crisis. John Eussell will listen to no reason about his 
Reform Bill, he insists on going on with it, and will have it 
that his honor and character demand that he should, and he 
says, " When the honor of public men is preserved, the 
country is safe." Clarendon dined here yesterday, and told 
me he thought Lord John would break up the Government. 
It is, in fact, a political duel between Lord John and Palmer- 

ston. thinks, and probably he is right, that at the last 

moment Palmerston will give way, but in the meantime he 
himself and all his followers and admirers are moving heaven 
and earth to defeat the measure, and to set up opposition to 
it — none more active than Hayter, Secretary to the Treasury, 
whose borough is one of those to be disfranchised. Every- 
body thinks Sir Edward Denny's motion will be carried, and 
if it is that Lord John will retire. If it were not for the 
difficulty about leading the House of Commons, this would 
not signify. I do not see how any arrangement is j)0ssible 
but that Palmerston should take the lead, but I do not know 
if this will not lead to other resignations. Clarendon is in- 
dignant at the state of things brought about by Lord John's 
obstinacy. He told me that Graham supported Lord John 
vehemently, but that Aberdeen took no strong part, and had 
behaved very well. Having accepted Lord John's Eeform 
measure, and pledged himself to it, he was ready still to 
abide by that pledge. There never was such a mess as it all 
is. Clarendon is now very hot on this war, which he fancies 
is to produce great and uncontemplated effects. He says for 
very many years past Russia has been the great incubus on 
European improvement, and the real cause of half the ca- 



1854.] THE REFORM BILL POSTPONED. 123 

lamities that have afflicted the world, and he thinks a great 
opportunity now presents itself of extinguishing her per- 
nicious influence, and by liberating other countries from it, 
the march of improY(?ment and better government will of 
necessity be developed and accelerated, and in this way civ- 
ilization itself may be the gainer by this contest. The Em- 
peror Napoleon has earnestly pressed that our contingent 
should be put under tiie command of the French Marshal, 
to which we have altogether objected, and he has acquiesced, 
though reluctantly. We have agreed on a sort of mezzo ter- 
mine, viz. that, in the event of a battle in which both forces 
are engaged, they should be under one Commander-in-Chief, 
who must be the Frenchman. Clarendon lamented that he 
had got no better Minister at Vienna than Westmorland just 
now, who though well meaning is nearly useless, as Colloredo 
is here, who will take nothing on himself. He says Castel- 
bajac at St. Petersburg has really not represented the French 
Government at all, nor acted in any way in conjunction with 
Seymour, but been all along a base courtier of the Emperor 
Nicholas. Clarendon has again and again remonstrated 
through Cowley with Drouyn de Lhuys on this inconsist- 
ency, and Drouyn has always replied that he is quite aware 
of it, and has been at least as much annoyed at it as we 
could be, but that the Emperor would never allow him to be 
recalled. I asked Clarendon whether, now tliat war really 
was inevitable, Aberdeen was more reconciled to it, and he 
said not at all ; he yielded to the necessity, but very sulkily, 
and in the discussions relating to it in the Cabinet he took 
no part, and evinced a total indifference, or ratlier disgust. 
However, he expressed great admiration of Clarendon's 
speech, which he said was the best he ever heard. Lord 
John has sent to his brother to come to town, telling him a 
crisis is at hand. Granville, who is all with Lord John, 
personally and politically a Reformer, and highly approving 
of this Bill, is going to him to-day to see if he can prevail 
on him to give way to the general opinion, and at all events 
to put him in possession of what is said and thought on the 
subject. 

March GtJi. — After a great struggle John Russell was 
persuaded to put off his Reform Bill, but only till the end 
of April, so that in a few weeks the same embarrassment 
will begin again. The satisfaction at its being deferred at 
all is great and general, and everybody thinks that some 



124 REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. V. 

expedient will be devised for putting it off again, when the 
time comes, and so that we shall be rid of it for this year. 
All the Cabinet was for putting it off, except Graham and 
Aberdeen. The former has devoted himself to Lord John, 
and goes heart and soul with him. Why Aberdeen took 
that view I cannot imagine, unless he wished to bring about 
a crisis, and to make his escape by favor of it. My own 
opinion at present is, that on April 27 Lord John will insist 
on bringing it on, and abide the consequences. The tenor 
of his speech, and still more that of Aberdeen, the same 
night, lead me to that conclusion. The Eadicals with old 
Hume at the head of them, ap])roved of the course Lord 
John took, but expressly with the understanding that he 
really meant and would bring it on at the period to which 
it was postponed ; and as he is sure to be incessantly urged 
on by his entourage to be firm when the time comes, and he 
will be very reluctant to encounter the indignation and re- 
proaches of his reforming friends and adherents, the chances 
seem to me to be in favor of the battle taking place. I 
think his speech on putting it off was not at all good, nor 
what he ought to have said. He laid himself open to an 
attack from Disraeli, which was very just, and he could not 
answer it. It was quite absurd to ground the postponement 
on the war and its exigencies, and it was moreover not the 
real and true reason. He put it off because he was impor- 
tuned by everybody to do so, because Hayter proved to him 
that he would infallibly be defeated, and because there was 
no other way of preventing a break-up of the Government. 
He might have anticipated Disraeli's philippic by reverting 
to what he had before said, repeating his own conviction 
that the war afforded no reason for not going on with the 
Bill ; but that he found so many of his own friends and such 
a general concurrence of feeling in the House of Commons 
on the other side, added to great indifference in the country, 
that he had thought it right to defer to those o]iinions, and 
give up his own to them. Such a defence of his conduct as 
this would have been more effective and more consistent 
with the truth, but it would have involved something like 
an acknowledgement of error, from which it is probable that 
his pride and obstinacy revolted, so he made what I think 
was a very bad speech. If he does bring it on again in 
April, I expect he will be defeated, and then retire. In any 
case his retirement will lead to Palmerston's elevation, as 



1S54] DINNER TO SIR CHARLES NAPIER. 125 

leader of the House of Commons if Lord John goes alone, as 
Prime Minister if Graham and Aberdeen go with him, and 
there seems no alternative, unless Lansdowne can be induced 
to replace Aberdeen, which some think not impossible, though 
it would only be for a short time. 



CIIAPTEE VI. 

Dinner to Sir Charles Napier— A Ministerial Indiscretion— Doubts as to the Iteform Bill— 
Discontent of Lord John Eussell— The Secret Correspondence with Kussia— War de- 
clared—Weakness of the GovernmeDt — Mr. Greville disapproves the War — Divisions 
in the Cabinet— Withdrawal of the Eeform Bill— Blunder of the Government— The 
Fast Day Licenses to trade in War— Death of the Marquis of Anjilesey— Mr. Glad- 
stone's Kinaiicial Failures — Dissolution of Parties— Mr. Gladstone's Budfjet — Lord 
Cowley's Opinion of the Emjjeror's I'osition — The House of Commons supjtnrts the 
War— Disraeli attacks Lord .John Russell — A Change of Plans— Lord John liussoll'a 
Mismanagement — Attacks on Lord Aberdeen — Popularity of the War — (iovornment 
Majority in the Lords — Attitude of the German I'owers — A Meetiug of the Liberal 
Party — .\n Appointment cancelled — E.\pedition to the Crimea — Knglish and French 
Policy united in Spain — Close of the Session The Character of Lord Aberdeen's Gov- 
ernment — Effect of the Quarrel with Kussia— Lord Palme rston's Kesgnation— Way- 
wardness ot the House of Commons. 

London, March \Wi, 1854. — The only event of recent 
occurrence was the dinner given last week to Sir Charles 
Napier at the Eeform Club, with Lord Palmerston in the 
chair. Everybody disapproves of the whole proceeding, 
which is thought to have been unwise and in bad taste. 
The only Ministers there besides Palmerston were Graham 
and Molesworth, and tlie former made an excessively foolish, 
indiscreet speech, which has been generally censured, and 
to-night he is to be called to account for it in the House of 
Commons. It is marvellous that a man of mature age, who 
has been nearly forty years in public life, should be so rash 
and ill-judged in his speeches.^ There seems now to be a 
better chance of John Russell's again putting off his Eeform 
Bill next month. There are not two opinions, except 
among the extreme Eadicals, of the expediency of his doing 
so, and his best friends (including his brother) greatly regret 

> [At this dinner .it the Reform Club, Sir James Graham made an interaper- 
flte speech in which he said: "My trallant friend (Napiert says that wlien ho 
goes into the Baltic he will declare war. I, as First Lord of the Admiralty, give 
my free consent to do so. I hope the war may be shorty and that it may be 
sharp." Sir Charles Napier's subsequent peribrmances m the Baltic did not 
at all correspond to this heroic language, and did not add to bis former reputa- 
tion.] 



126 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

that lie did not put it off si7i6 die instead of to another fixed 
day. 

March 20th. — There has been a little episode, not very 
important, hut which being entirely personal caused some 
noise in the world. About a week ago, or perhaps more, 
appeared the Petersburg " Gazette " with a sort of manifesto, 
complaining bitterly of the conduct of the British Govern- 
ment, which was said to be the more inexcusable as a con- 
fidential correspondence had taken place between the two 
Governments, and we had been all along informed of their 
views and intentions. The " Times " published this (as did 
all the other papers), and with it a peremptory denial of its 
truth, stating that John Eussell, then Foreign Secretary, 
had sent an indignant refusal to the proposals made to us. 
Derby took this up in the House of Lords, complaining of 
State" secrets having been imparted to the " Times," and in- 
sinuating his belief that Aberdeen had communicated them. 
Aberdeen denied the imputation with some resentment, and 
said that a flagrant breach of confidence had been certainly 
committed, and he had reason to believe that the culprit was 
a man formerly in the Foreign Office as clerk, though now 
out of it, who had been appointed by Lord Malmesbury. On 
this Malmesbury flared up, and desired to know his name, 
which Aberdeen said he did not know. On a subsequent 
night Malmesbury again took the matter up, and challenged 
Aberdeen to give the name and produce his proof. Aberdeen 
said he had received the information in a way which left no 
donbt on his mind of its truth, and he was willing to leave 
the matter to the gentleman himself, and if he denied it, he 
would acknowledge that he was mistaken and had been mis- 
informed. By this time everybody was aw^are that a young 
man of the name of Astley was the accused party. He wrote 
a letter to Malmesbury denying the charge, but his letter 
was not very distinct. However, Malmesbury read it in the 
House, and called on Aberdeen to retract the charge, which 
he immediately and completely did, and there the matter 
ended ; but though the man is thus acquitted, and the 
Opposition papers abuse Aberdeen (who in fact was very im- 
prudent to mention it), there seems no doubt that he really 
did babble about this matter, though it is very certain it was 
not from him the "Times " got its information.^ The story 

1 [The indiscretion, sncli as it Tvas, appears to have been that of Lord Aber- 
deen himself, and Lord Malmesbury CLUoted with a good deal of wit and apropos^ 



1854.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S REFORM BILL. lo^ 

told is this : Astlcy talked of the correspondencG to some 
person in a railway carriage. That person told it to Lady 
Ashburton, who repeated it to Clarendon. When thus 
talked of, it might easily get to the "Times;" and the 
only wonder is, it did not get into manj- other papers be- 
sides. 

Lord John Rnssell continnes in a very per])lexed and un- 
certain state about his Eeform Bill, and hesitates whether 
to bring it on or not next month. On one hand he is urged 
to do so by his little knot of domestic adherents, by Graham 
vehemently, and to a certain degree by Aberdeen ; on the 
other he is entreated and argued with by all the rest of his 
colleagues, by his brother, by Hayter, and by an immense 
majority of his political friends and supporters. Still he 
hesitates. He has got a notion, and others tell him so, that 
his character is concerned in bringing it on, and that he is 
bound to risk everything to maintain it. Graham is rpiite 
inconceivable ; always rash at one moment and coAvardly at 
another, he is now, and on this question, in his rashest mood, 
and he has persuaded himself, and tries to persuade Lord 
John, that if he perseveres and is beaten (which he cannot 
disguise from himself is probable, if not certain) he will only 
have to go out in order to return in triumph as Prime Min- 
ister. If a dissolution is proposed, and the Cabinet consent 
to it, he fancies a new Parliament will give him everything ; 
if the Cabinet will not dissolve, Lord John, Graham and 
Aberdeen would retire, the Government be broken up, and 
Lord John would have Parliament and the country with him 
in forming another. All this I believe to be pure delusion. 
By persisting in his course he may, and probably would, 
break up the Government, but he would destroy himself, he 
would never be forgiven Ijy his party or by the country at 
large for breaking up the Government at such a moment as 
this, and all his visions of success and jiower would soon bo 
dispersed. Whatever else might happen, he would be ex- 
cluded from office, probably forever. His discontent with 
his present position the more inclines him to take this haz- 
ardous stop, because he wants a change of some sort. 

The Duke of Bedford came to me the other day to tell 
me Lord John was determined no longer to go on as he now 
is, and it seems that he is moved principally by pecuniary 

in the House of Lords, Sancho Panza's saying, " that a cask may leak at the 
top as well as at the bottom."] 



128 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

considerations.^ He is poor and has a large family. While 
he is in office he is obliged to incur expenses by giving din- 
ners and parties, and this additional expense is defrayed by 
the Duke, but in a very unsatisfactory way. Lord John 
sends him a sort of estimate or account of his extra expenses, 
and the Duke pays the money. It is not surprising that 
Lord John dislikes such assistance as this, and though he 
never complains, he is probably mortified and provoked that 
his brother does not once for all give him a sum of money or 
a large annuity. Everybody else is amazed that he does not 
do this ; but though he is much attached to Lord John, ad- 
mires and is proud of him, his love of money is so great 
that he cannot bring himself, even for his brother, to do a 
generous thing on a great scale. His colossal fortune, which 
goes on increasing every day, and for which he has no use, 
might well be employed in making his brother easy, and in 
buying golden opinions for himself ; but the passion of ava- 
rice and the pleasure of accumulation outweigh all such con- 
siderations, and he falls in readily with Lord John's notion 
of taking an office for the sake of its emoluments. The 
present idea is to have this matter settled before Easter, to 
turn out Mr. Strutt from the Duchy of Lancaster, and put 
Lord John in the place with an increased salary during his 
occupation of it. Nothing, however, is settled about it yet. 

The publication of the secret correspondence with Eus- 
sia has excited great interest, and does great credit to the 
Government, but it increases the public indignation against 
the Emperor, because it exposes the extreme duplicity of 
his conduct ; and as he must have been aware that such 
would be the inevitable result of publicity, it is difficult to 
conceive what induced him to provoke it, unless Walewski's 
conjecture is the true one. He thinks that the Emperor 
thought it would make bad blood between us and France, 
fancying that we had not imparted the correspondence to 
the French Government, in which he was mistaken, as we 
had done so. 

March 29th. — The die is cast, and war was declared yes- 
terday. We are already beginning to taste the fruits of it. 
Every species of security has rapidly gone down, and every- 
body's property in stocks, shares, etc., is depreciated already 
from twenty to thirty per cent. I predict confidently that, 

1 [Lord John at this time had a seat in the Cabinet and led the House of 
Commons without any ofB.ce in the Ministry and without any salary.] 



1854.] WAR IS DECLARED. log 

before many months arc over, people will be as heartily sick 
of it as they are now hot upon it. Nobody knows where 
our fleets and armies are going, nor what they mean to 
attempt, and we are profoundly ignorant of the resources 
and power of Enssia to wage war against us. As the time 
for action approaches, Austria and Prussia grow more reluc- 
tant to engage in it. The latter has proclaimed her neutral- 
ity, and unless some events should make a change in her 
policy, I do not believe the former will ever be induced 
to act with us and against Eussia. The Government here 
are in a very weak unsatisfactory state. They are supported 
in carrying on war, but in every other respect they are 
k'eated with great indifference, and appear to have very 
little authority or influence either in Parliament or in the 
country. Nobody seems to have risen in estimation, except 
perhaps Clarendon, who has done his work well and got 
credit for it. Palmerston and Graham have positively dis- 
graced themselves by their dinner to Napier, and the foolish 
speeches they made both there and in the House of Commons 
afterward. I do not know what Palmerston's popularity 
might turn out to be if it should be tested by some change 
which brought him forward, but he certainly has greatly lost 
ground this year by his whole conduct from his I'esignation 
down to this time. Gladstone, the great card of the pack, 
has forfeited by the failure of his financial schemes a good 
deal of the credit he had obtained. John Eussell has of- 
fended everybody by his obstinacy about his ill-timed Eeform 
Bill, so that the Government docs not stand very high, and 
is only strong in the weakness of all other parties. They 
are constantly beaten on small matters in the House of Com- 
mons, which produces a bad effect. Uid to this moment 
nobody knows what John Eussell means to do about the 
Eeform Bill ; if he puts it off again, he ought to do so to- 
morrow, when the discussion will take jilace about the de- 
claration of war. 

April 2d. — The debates in both Houses were marked by 
great bitterness on the part of the Opposition, by Derby in 
one House, and by Disraeli and Layard in the other. The 
war fever is still sufficiently raging to make it impossible 
for any man who denounces the war itself to obtain a pa- 
tient hearing. Nobody ventures to cry out against it but 
Bright in the House of Commons, and Grey in the House of 
Lords, but already I see symptoms of disquietude and alarm. 



130 REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. VL 

Some of those who were most warlike begin to look grave, 
and to be more alive to the risks, difficulties, and probably 
dangers of such a contest. I can not read the remonstrances 
and Avarnings of Bright without going very much along with 
him ; and the more I reflect on the nature of the contest, its 
object, and the degree to which we are committed in it, the 
more uneasy I feel about it, and the more lively my appre- 
hensions are of our finding ourselves in a very serious 
dilemma, and being involved in great embarrassments of vari- 
ous sorts. Among other misfortunes, one is the discredit 
into which Gladstone has fallen as a financier. Notwith- 
standing his extraordinary capacity, most people who are 
conversant with the subject of finance think he has greatly 
mismanaged his affairs, and suffered his notions or crotchets 
to get the better of his prudence, and consequently that he 
has prepared for himself as Chancellor of the Exchequer 
very great difficulties. His Budget last year was so popular, 
and his wonderful readiness and skill in dealing with every- 
thing relating to finance excited so much admiration, that 
his reputation was prodigious, and he was not only the 
strength of the Government, but was marked out as the 
future Prime Minister whenever changes took place. All 
this prestige is very much diminished ; and altliough his 
failures are in great measure attributable to accidents over 
which he had no control, many who are not unfriendly to 
him think he has been rash, obstinate, and injudicious, and 
no longer feel the same confidence in him which they did a 
short time ago. 

April dd. — The Duke of Bedford has just been here, as 
uneasy about the state of affairs and as disgusted and 
alarmed at the war as I am. He does not know what Lord 
John will do about the Eeform Bill, but fears rather than 
hopes as to his intentions. Aberdeen had desired that there 
should be a Cabinet before Easter, and that Lord John 
should then determine what he would do, but Palmerston re- 
quested that the final decision should only be made on the 
26th, the day before that on which it is to come on. What 
his object is they do not know. The Dnke, in talking to 
Lord John, suggested the certainty of his breaking up the 
Government by bringing on his measure, and the enormous 
evil this would be, to which Lord John replied that if he 
knew what the internal state of the Government was, he 
would perhaps not think the evil of the dissolution so great. 



1854.] THE REFORM BILL WITHDRAWN. 131 

The fact is that, when the Opposition, as is their wont, taunt 
the Government with their internal disagreement and want 
of cordiality and union, they are much more right than they 
themselves are aware of. The Duke told me that the Queen 
told him the other day that she had herself written to Lord 
John urging him to give up bringing on his Bill. Not long 
ago the Queen was in favor of proceeding with it, but cir- 
cumstances were very different at that time. 

April 15th. — This has been a week of excitement. It 
had been settled that on Monday last John Russell should 
announce his intention Avith regard to the Reform Bill. His 
uncertainty still prevailed, and he got into such a state of 
mind about it that it made him ill. lie could not sleep, and 
was in a terrible state of vexation and perplexity. Aberdeen 
then proposed to him to give up the Bill, but to obtain from 
the Cabinet a unanimous consent to his pledging them to 
go on with it hereafter at some indefinite time. On Saturday 
there was a Cabinet, at which he made this proposal, but 
Palmerston and Lansdowne both refused their consent, and 
Lansdowne was in conversation with his friends very vehe- 
ment about it. Graham appears to have been reasonable at 
this Cabinet, and ready to adopt the course proposed to Lord 
John. It was eventually settled that he should announce the 
abandonment of the Bill, and make the best statement he 
could, not pledging the ivJioIe Cabinet as he had intended ; 
but before this he urged them to accept his resignation, 
which they refused, and then Palmerston begged he might 
resign, which they refused equally. So matters stood on 
Saturday night, and everybody believed it was settled. On 
Sunday Lord John's doubts and fears returned, his mind 
became unsettled again, and he was inclined to withdraw 
from his agreement and to go on. To the surprise of the 
whole House of Commons, when Monday came, Lord John 
only said he would make his statement the next day. Every- 
body saw something was wrong, and the curiosity and ex- 
citement were very great. All Monday and Tuesday morn- 
ings were passed in conferences and going backward and 
forward, the Duke of Bedford being called in to work upon 
Lord John. He did his best, and at last on Tuesday morn- 
ing he and others finally persuaded Lord John to adhere to 
what had been determined and withdraw his Bill. This he 
did in a very good speech, full of an emotion and manifes- 
tation of sensibility which succeeded completely with the 



132 . REIGN OF QUEE>f V^ICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

House, and he was greeted with prodigious cheering and 
compliments and congratulations on all sides. Nothing 
could in fact go off better, or in a way more gratifying to 
him, and the Government apjoears to have been strengthened 
by the operation. His emotion was sincere because he is 
no actor, but it was in my opinion totally uncalled for ; and 
as there is but a steja between the sublime and the ridiculous, 
it might just as well have appeared ridiculous ; but fortu- 
nately for him his audience were disposed to take it au grand 
serieux. Even his brother, partial as he is to him, takes the 
same view of this that I do, and has written to me that as 
Lord John has often been abused when he did not deserve it, 
so he has now been overpraised, 

Ai^ril 24:tli. — When this Government was formed, its 
principal merit was supposed to be its great administrative 
capacity, and the wonderful way in which the business of 
the country was to be done. It has turned out just the re- 
verse of what was expected, for they commit one blunder 
after another, and nothing can be more loose, careless, and 
ignorant than the way in which their business is conducted. 
All sorts of mistakes and embarrassments are continually 
occurring in the House of Commons, and I have had occa- 
sion to see ample proofs of what I say, in all that has been 
done and is doing about licences and trade permissions, con- 
sequent on the recent declarations and Orders in Council.^ 
Now another matter has occurred, discreditable from the 
carelessness which has been evinced. When it was thought 
necessary to order a fast day for the war, the Queen set her 
face against it. She thought it very absurd (as it is) and 
objected 171 toto. Aberdeen with some difticulty overcame 
her objections, setting forth that it had been done by George 
HI., and that the religious part of the community would 
make a clamor if it were not done. So she gave way, but 
still insisted it should not be a "fast," so they settled it 
should be a day of "humiliation." The Archbishop of 

1 [On the outbreak of the war a Committee of Council was summoned to 
consider and frame divera Orders with reference to the prohibition of the export 
of military and naval stores, tlie detention of Russian ships, and questions of 
trade in Russian produce. Dr. Lushington, the judge of the Admiralty, was a 
member of this Committee, besides several Cabinet ilinisters. The French 
Government proposed to revert to the old system of licences to trade with the 
enemy ; but this proposal was not aoreed to by Great Britain. The Eussian 
trade was left open, except when stopped by blockade. Licences were issued 
by the Privy Council tor the export of military and naval stores to neutral 
ports.] 



1851.] THE FAST DAY. 133 

Canterbury fully concurred, and the proclamation was is- 
sued accordingly. But the other day the merchants took 
alarm, and represented that, as the word " fast" was omitted, 
the ca^e would not come within the provisions of Master- 
man's Bill, and that bills of exchange, &c., would be jiayable 
on the day itself, and not the day before as provided by that 
Act, and that all sorts of confusion would arise. The Bank 
of England took the Solicitor General's opinion, who thought 
that such would be the law. A great difficulty arose, for 
time pressed. The Chancellor thought the case would stand, 
and was fortaking the chance, but the Cabinet on Saturday 
decided that it would be safer to correct the error even thus 
late. Aberdeen went to the Queen and told her, and this 
afternoon there is to be a Council to turn the "day of hu- 
miliation" into a "fast day," in order that "merchants" 
bills may be presented on one day instead of another, and 
that banking ojierations may not be deranged. The ridicule 
this throws on the religious part of the question is obvious, 
and the effect it ought to have is to discontinue these pre- 
posterous observances, which all sensible people regard as a 
mockery and a delusion. But all this ought to have been 
provided for, and the law officers ought to have foreseen the 
consequences and advised accordingly. In Peel's time this 
never would have happened ; but with a nominal Premier, a 
Home Secretary who will give himself no trouble about the 
details of his office, and an Attorney General who does noth- 
ing, knows nothing of law, and won't attend to anything, it 
is no wonder that such things and many others occur. 

To return to the question of trading licences. When we 
went to war, the Government, I believe very wisely, resolved 
to relax belligerent rights and give all possible latitude to 
trade, with no more restrictions and reservations than were 
essentially necessary for carrying on the war. But this reso- 
lution involved a revolution of the old system and the neces- 
sity of completely constructing a new one, and as they long 
ago knew war was inevitable, they ought to have well con- 
sidered all this, and framed their regulations before they 
issued their orders. But not a bit of this was done, and the 
consequence was a state of uni^aralleled confusion and em- 
barrassment, applications from all sides, and hosts of peti- 
tions for leave to export goods of different descriptions. 
The Government at last set to work to deal with these cases, 
but in a very irregular, unbusinesslike way. Some two or 



134 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

three of them met in Committee at the Council Office, and 
with the help of Cardwell, President of the Board of Trade 
but not in the Cabinet, and Dr. Lushington, who has nothing 
to do with the Government, they have contrived to scramble 
through the business ; but the laches and indifference of those 
who ought to be most concerned, and the loose way of pro- 
ceeding, have been very striking. Some would not come at 
all, some came for a short time, different people attended on 
different days, so that different opinions prevailed, and no 
regular system was established. The other day, on Cardwell's 
saying these questions would be taken up as soon as Parlia- 
ment met and Government called to account, I suggested to 

that, such being the case, he ought to get Lord John 

Eussell to attend the Committee. He said he would ask him, 
" but John Eussell could not bear details ; he doubted if he 
would come, and, if he did, would be of no use, as he would 
be sure to go to sleep ; " and this is the way business of the 
greatest importance is transacted. 

May del. — The death of Lord Anglesey, which took place 
a few days ago, has removed one of the last and the most 
conspicuous of the comrades of the Duke of Wellington, who 
all seem to be following their commander very rapidly. I 
have lived with Lord Anglesey for so many years in such 
intimacy, and have received from him such constant kind- 
ness, that I cannot pass over his death without a brief 
notice. 

A more gallant sj)irit, a finer gentleman, and a more hon- 
orable and kindhearted man never existed. His abilities 
were not of a very high order, but he had a good fair under- 
standing, excellent intentions, and a character remarkably 
straightforward and sincere. In his youth he was notoriously 
vain and arrogant, as most of his family were, but as he ad- 
vanced in age, his faults and foibles were diminished or soft- 
ened, and his virtues and amiable disposition manifested 
themselves the more. He distinguished himself greatly in 
the command of the cavalry in Sir John Moore's retreat, 
but was not employed in the Duke's army during the subse- 
quent years of the Peninsular war. In the Waterloo cam- 
paign he again commanded the cavalry, not, as was supposed, 
entirely to the Duke's satisfaction, who would have pre- 
ferred Lord Combermere in that post. He lost a leg at the 
battle of Waterloo ; for this wound Lord Anglesey was en- 
titled to a very large pension, of which he never would take 



1854.] A FINANCIAL FAILURE. 135 

a shilling. He was a great friend of George IV., and ex- 
posed himself to unpopularity by taking the King's part in 
the Queen's trial ; but their friendship came to an end when 
Lord Anglesey connected himself with the Whig party, and 
Avhen he went to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant he deeply 
otfended the King by his open advocacy of the Eoman Catho- 
lic cause in 1829. The Duke of AVellington, then Minister 
and about to give up the Catholic question, quarrelled with 
Lord Anglesey and recalled him. For some years past they 
had not been on very friendly terms. Lord Anglesey was 
jealous of the Duke, and used to affect to disparage his 
capacity both as a general and a statesman, and this political 
diiference completed their mutual estrangement. These 
hostile feelings did not, however, last long ; Lord Anglesey 
had a generous disposition, and was too fair and true to do 
permanent injustice to the Duke. I do not know how the 
reconciliation between them was brought about, but their 
temporary alienation was succeeded by a firm and lasting 
friendship, and the most enthusiastic admiration and attach- 
ment entertained by Lord Anglesey toward the Duke. For 
many years before the death of the latter, the two old war- 
riors were the most intimate friends and constant compan- 
ions, and every vestige of their former differences and an- 
tipathies was effaced and had given way to warm sentiments 
of mutual regard. When the regiment of Guards became 
vacant, King "William sent for Lord Anglesey and announced 
to him that he was to have it ; he of course expressed his 
acknowledgements ; but early the next morning he Avent to 
the King and said to him that he felt it his duty to repre- 
sent to him that there was a man worthier than himself to 
have the regiment, that Lord Ludlow had lost his arm at 
their head, and that he could not bear to accept that to 
which Lord Ludlow was so justly entitled. This remon- 
strance, so unselfish and honorable, was accepted, and the 
regiment was conferred on Lord Ludlow.^ 

May 1th. — The failure of Gladstone's Exchequer Bill 
scheme has been very injurious to the Government, and 
particularly to him. "The prodigious applause and admira- 
tion with which he was greeted last year have given way to 
distrust and apprehension of him as a finance minister, and 

» [George James, third Earl of Ludlow in the peerasre of Ireland, and created 
a haron of the United Kinsdom in 1831, was born Dccemhcr 12. 17fi8, and died 
April 10, 1S42, when the titles became extinct. He served with distinction in 
the army, and was colonel of the 38th regiment of foot.] 



136 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

the repeated failures of his different schemes have in a very 
short time materially damaged his reputation, and destroyed 
the prestige of his great abilities. All practical men in the 
City severely blame him for having exposed himself to the 
risk of failure, and reproach him with the folly of trying to 
make too good a bargain, and by so doing exposing himself 
to the defeat he has sustained. The consequences will not 
probably be serious, but the Government is weakened by it, 
and the diminution of public confidence in Gladstone is a 
public misfortune. 

Next in importance to the financial difficulty is the Ox- 
ford Bill, with which Government have got into a mess, and 
they are struggling through the measure with doubtful and 
small majorities, having been beaten on an important point, 
and now quite uncertain if they shall be able to carry it. I 
fell in with Graham yesterday, and spoke to him about these 
things, when he replied that Gladstone's failure was very 
unfortunate, but he had no doubt he would make a great 
speech in his own defence on Monday night. With regard 
to Oxford, he said it was quite true that they could not de- 
pend on carrying the clauses of their bill, but that was be- 
cause in the present state of the House " they could not 
carry a turnpike bill," they were absolutely without power, 
and " it was a state of things that could not go on." ' Last 
night I bad a talk with Charles Wood on the same subject, 
and he said that the truth was, a revolution had silently 
been effected. Parties were at an end, and the House of 
Commons was no longer divided into and governed by them ; 
and that the predicament in which this Government is placed 
would be the same with every other, and business could no 
longer be conducted in Parliament in the way it used to be. 
Air this is in my opinion quite true, and what has long 
struck me. Whether the extreme elasticity of our institu- 
tions, and the power of adaptation to circumstances which 
seems to pervade them, will enable us to find remedies and 
resources, and that the apparent derangement will right it- 
self, remains to be seen. But it is a condition of affairs full 
of uncertainty, therefore of danger, and which makes me 
very uneasy whenever I think of it. It is evident that this 
Government is now backed by no great party, and that it 

1 [Lord John Russell introduced a bill to make further provision for the good 

foyernmcnt of the University of Oxford and the colleges therein, -which passed 
oth Houses, ^'ith some amendments, in the course of the session.] 



1854.] MR. GLADSTONE'S BUDGET. 137 

lias very few independent adherents on whom it can count. 
It scrambles on with casual support, and its continuing at 
all to exist is principally owing to the extreme difficulty of 
forming any other, and the certainty that no other that 
could be formed would be stronger or more secure, either 
more popular or more powerful. 

3fay 7th. — It is scarcely a year ago that I was writing 
enthusiastic panegyrics on Gladstone, and describing him as 
the great ornament and support of the Government, and as 
the future Prime Minister. This was after the prodigious 
success of his first Budget and his able speeches, but a few 
months seem to have overturned all his power and authority. 
I hear nothing but complaints of his rashness and passion 
for experiments ; and on all sides, from men, for example, 
like Tom Baring and Robarts, one a Tory, the other a Whig, 
that the City and the moneyed men have lost all confidence 
in him. To-morrow night he is to make his financial state- 
ment, and intense curiosity prevails to see how he will pro- 
vide the ways and means for carrying on the war. Every- 
body expects that he will make an able speech ; but brilliant 
speeches do not produce very great effect, and more anxiety 
is felt for the measures he will propose than for the dexterity 
and ingenuity he may display for proposing them. Parlia- 
ment is ready to vote without grumbling any money that is 
asked for, and as yet public opinion has not begun to waver 
and complain ; but we are only yet at the very beginning of 
this horrible mess, and people are still looking Avith eager 
interest to the successes they anticijiate, and have not yet 
begun to feel the cost. 

3fay lOih. — Gladstone made a great speech on Monday 
night. He spoke for nearly four hours, occupying the first 
half of the time in an elaborate and not unsuccessful defence 
of his former measures. His speech, which was certainly 
very able, was well received, and the Budget pronounced an 
honorable and creditable one. If he had chosen to sacri- 
fice his conscientious convictions to popularity, he might 
have gained a great amount of the latter by proposing a loan, 
and no more taxes than would be necessary for the interest 
of it. I do not yet know whether his defence of his abor- 
tive schemes has satisfied the monetary critics. It was cer- 
tainly very plausible, and will probably be sufficient for the 
uninformed and the half-informed, who cannot detect any 
fallacies which mav lurk within it. He attacked some of 



138- REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

liis opponents with great severity, particularly Disraeli and 
Monteagle, but I doubt if this was pi'udent. He flung about 
his sarcasms upon smaller fry, and this certainly was not 
discreet. I think his speech has been of service to his finan- 
cial character, and done a good deal towards the restoration 
of his credit. 

May 12th. — Cowley called on me yesterday, when we 
talked over the war with all its etceteras. He said the Em- 
peror had been most reluctant to go into it, but was now 
firmly resolved to pursue it vigorously, and not to desist till 
he had obtained fair terms of peace ; above all things he is 
bent on going on with us in unbroken amity. Cowley thinks 
his political position as secure as any position can be in 
France, and certainly the country seems satisfied with his 
rule. Plis social position is unimproved and rather worse ; 
his marriage was a fatal measure ; he would have done far 
better if he could have married the Hohenlohe girl, who was 
dying to be Empress, and Cowley thinks the Queen was 
wrong to prevent the match. In that case the Court might 
have been very different. In the beginning, after his mar- 
riage, he attempted to purify it as well as he could, and to 
get rid of all the disreputable women about it ; bat by de- 
grees they have all come back again, and now they are more 
encanailUes than ever. 

The French Government have given a strong proof of 
their goodwill to us by recalling Baraguay d'Hilliers from 
Constantinople, and not sending another ambassador, as they 
find none can possibly live on good terms with Stratford. 
Cowley says the war might have been prevented, he thinks, 
and particularly if Stratford had not been there. The Em- 
peror would have made greater concessions if Stratford had 
not been at Constantinople, and another ambassador would 
have striven to preserve peace instead of being, as he was, 
bent on producing a war. 

Edward Mills tells me Gladstone's recent speech has im- 
mensely raised him, and that he stands very high in the 
City, his defence of his measures very able, and produced a 
great effect ; he said he lately met Walpole, who told him 
he had the highest admiration of Gladstone, and thought he 
had more power than ever Peel had even at his highest tide. 

May 28th. — I have been so much occupied with the very 
dissimilar occupations of preparations for Epsom races in 
the shape of trials, betting, &c., and the finishing and cor- 



1864.] DEFEATS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 139 

rection of an article in the " Edinburgh Review " on King 
Joseph's Memoirs, that I have had no leisure to think of 
polities, or to record what has been going on in the political 
world, nor in truth has much material been furnished either 
by domestic or foreign transactions. The last fortnight in 
Parliament has been going on much in the way in which 
the present Government always goes on, and Gladstone, 
whom I met at dinner the other day, repeated to me very 
much what Graham had said some i;ime before, about their 
utter inability to carry their measifres in the House of Com- 
mons. There is, however, one important exception to this 
rule, and that is one of vital importance. On everything 
which relates to the war, and on all questions of supply, they 
can do whatever they please, and have no difficulty, and en- 
counter no opposition. Tom Baring's motion on Monday 
last exhibited a striking proof of this ; he introduced it by 
an able speech, and he mustered all the supjwrt that could 
be got, and yet he was defeated by above 100. I met Disraeli 
in the street the next day, when he said, " Your Government 
is very strong." I said, the war which was supposed to be 
their weakness turns out to be their strength. They can 
carry everything which appertains to that, and nothing else. 
And so it is ; no sooner do they get a great majority on some 
imiDortant question than they find themselves in a minority,^ 
perhaps more than oney on something else. John Russell 
got beaten on his Oaths 13111 the other night, a victory wlnchy 
was hailed with uproarious delight by the Opposition, thoug)/ 
leading to nothing, and only mortifying to John Russell 
personally. These defeats, however, do not fail to be morally 
injurious to the Government, and to shake their credit. It 
was an ill-advised measure, which drew down upon itself 
those who are against the Jews and those who are against 
the Catholic?. Palmerston has been showing ill-humor in 
the House of Commons, and has ceased to be so very popular 
as he used to be thercy They have great difficulty in getting 
on with the University Bill, and Gladstone told me the other 
night he was very doubtful if they should be able to bring 
it to a successful end. All the Tories and High-Churchmen 
are against it of course, and the Dissenters regard it with no 
favor because it does not do for them what they desire ; so 
it is left to the suppoi't of the friends of Government and 
those who sincerely desire a good measure of reform for 
those bodies. 



140 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

June hth. — I was at Epsom all last week. In the beginning 
of it or the week before there was a groat passage of arms in 
the House of Commons between John Rassell and Disraeli, 
not a yery creditable exhibition, but which excited greater 
interest than more important matters. Though Disraeli be- 
gan the attack. Lord John threw the first stone of offence, 
which he had better have let alone. In reply to this Disraeli 
broke out with inconceiyable violence and made the most 
furious assault upon John that he could, saying everything 
most oifensive and provoking. Lord John made a rejoinder, 
and was followed by Bright, whose speech was very hostile 
and spiteful, and much more calculated to annoy Lord John 
than that of Disraeli, though much less vituperative. Dis- 
raeli seems inclined to have recourse to his old tactics 
against Peel, and to endeavor to treat John Eussell, and 
Gladstone, when he can, in the same way, hoping probably 
to re-ingratiate himself with his own side by giving them 
some of those invectives and sarcasms against their oppo- 
nents which are so congenial to their tastes. This course 
will not raise him either in the House or in the country, and 
he will not find in Lord John a man either so sensitive or so 
vulnerable as Peel, and he can make out nothing against a 
man who refuses place, patronage, and emolument, and gives 
his gratuitous services at a great personal sacrifice because 
he thinks it his public duty to do so. There is nothing new 
in the condition of the Government ; they are very firmly 
seated in their places, the House of Commons supjDorting 
them by large majorities in all thei^ great measures and 
those which involve a quesnon of confidence ; but having no 
dependable majority on miscellaneous questions, nor even 
knowing whether they can carry any measure or not, it is 
idle to twit them with being a Government on sufferance 
and Lord John with not "■ leading " the House of Commons. 
A revolution has taken place in the conditions of the politi- 
cal existence of governments in general and their relations 
with Parliament, and there is at present no likelihood that 
any government that can be formed will find itself in differ- 
ent circumstances, or that the old pi-actice by which a gov- 
ernment could command the House of Commons on almost 
everything will ever be restored, Whether the new system 
be better or worse than the old may be doubtful, but govern- 
ments must make up their minds to conform to it for the 
present at least. In the course of the next few days the 



1854.] THE PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL. 141 

division of the Colonial from tlie War Department will take 
l)lace. There seems little doubt that Newcastle will elect to 
take the War Department, and Clarendon told me yesterday 
ho thought he would be the best man for it, warmly praising 
his energy, industry, and ability, and liis popular and con- 
ciliatory qualities. Their great object is to prevail on Lord 
John to take the Colonial Office, which I expect he will 
eventually do, but not without much reluctance and hesita- 
tion. Granville tells me he is in a dissatisfied state of mind, 
in which he will probably long remain, especially as his en- 
tourage will always do their best to foment his discontent. 

June 11th. — Yesterday and the day before the world was 
made acquainted with the recent arrangements and appoint- 
ments, which have been received with considerable disappro- 
bation.^ Nobody can understand what it all meaus, and 
why John Russell, if he was to take office, was to insist on 
so strange an arran-^ement, and such a departure from the 
invariable practice of putting a peer in the office of Presi- 
dent of the Council. Nothing can be more ungracious than 
the air of the whole proceeding : he turns out Granville to 
make room for himself, and turns out Strutt to make room 
for Granville. It seems that they wanted him to be Colo- 
nial Secretar}'^, but this he would not hear of on the score of 
his health, and as it is now admitted as an axiom that the 
leader in the House of Commons has enough to do, and can 
not efficiently discharge the duties of a laborious depart- 
ment, it was reasonable enough that Lord John should de- 
cline the Colonies ; but there seems no sufficient reason for 
his not taking the Duchy of Lancaster, for the more com- 
pletely the office is a sinecure, the more consistent his taking 
it would appear. However, he would be President of the 
Council or nothing. I have been amazed at his indelicacy 
and want of consideration toward Granville, who deserved 
better treatment at his hands. Granville has always been 
his steady and stout adherent, defending his Reform Bill, 
holding himself his especial follower in the Coalition Cabi- 

» [Lord John Eussell insisted on taking the office of Lord President of the 
Council, which has always been held by a peer, and to effect this change Earl 
Granville was removed from the higher office of Lord Presi'lent to that of 
Chancellor of the Duchy. The Kiffht Honorable Edward Strutt, who had been 
Chancellor of the Duchy with a seat in the Cabinet, was dismissed from office, 
but he was subsequently raised to the peerage with the title of Lord Belper. 
Tliis transaction reflected no credit on the author of it, who consulted notliiug 
bu*; his own dignity and convenience.] 



143 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. VI. 

net, and ready to support him or go out with him if neces- 
sary. It was therefore particularly odious to insist on foist- 
ing himself into Grranville's place, and inflicting on him the 
mortification of going downstairs. Granville behaved very 
well about it, with great good humor, only anxious to do 
whatever was best for the general interest, and putting aside 
every personal consideration and feeling ; and his conduct is 
the more meritorious, because he dislikes the arrangement 
of all things. Aberdeen behaved very kindly to him, and 
told him, if he objected to the change, he would not consent 
to it, and, cost what it might, would tell John Eussell he 
could not and should not have the place. Granville proposed 
to go out, at least for a time, but Aberdeen said he could 
not spare him, and nothing could be more flattering than all 
he expressed of his usefulness in the House of Lords, and of 
the value of his services. Personally, therefore, he loses 
nothing ; for though he preferred the Council Office to the 
Duchy, his conduct has raised him in everybody's estima- 
tion, and he will play a part even more prominent than he 
did before. 

One reason why Lord John should not have come to the 
Council Office was the embarrassment he will be sure to find 
himself in about questions of education, his reputation and 
his antecedents, as well as his political connections, making 
him peculiarly unfit to be at the head of the Education De- 
partment ; and I am inclined to agree with Vernon Smith, 
who said to me the other day that it would infallibly end in 
Lord John's bringing in next year an impracticable Educa- 
tion Bill and withdrawing it. George Grey's coming into 
office will be of use to the Government. Newcastle's being 
War Minister is sure to be attacked, and all the Palmer- 
stonians are indignant that Palmerston is not in that place, 
which never was ofl'ered him, nor was he consulted about the 
arrangement. I think there is still a considerable opinion 
that he would make a good War Minister, though everybody 
is aware he makes a very bad Home one, and the pj'estige 
about him and his popularity are greatly worn out. They 
have been obliged to go back to the reign of Henry VIII. to 
find a precedent for a commoner being President of the 
Council, when they say there was one, but I don't know 
who he was. 

June 21st. — At St. Leonards last week for Ascot races, 
where I got wet, and have been ever since confined with the 



1854.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S POSITION. 143 

gout. The " Times,'"' though by way of supporting the Gov- 
ernment, went on violently attacking John Russell about the 
recent changes. Lord John was very well received in the 
City at his election, and at the opening of the Crystal Palace 
he was more cheered than anybody. This morning the Duke 
of Bedford came here and told me he had had a good deal of 
conversation with his brother about this business, to which he 
(the Duke) had been a stranger while it was going on. Lord 
John said that when the Government was formed he had pro- 
posed to Aberdeen that he should be Presideiit of the Coun- 
cil, but Aberdeen had objected on the score of its being so 
unusual, therefore he was only going back to his original de- 
sign. He had an invincible repugnance to taking the Duchy 
of Lancaster or any inferior office. Both when the Govern- 
ment was formed and now, he would have much preferred 
to have kept aloof, and to have led in the House of Com- 
mons that section of the Whig party which would have fol- 
lowed him, but he found this impossible, and as the Govern- 
ment could not have been formed without him, and could 
not now go on without him, he was obliged to sacrihce his own 
inclination. I said I could not conceive why he could not 
go on as he was till the end of the session, and then settle it ; 
that his pushing out Granville had a very ungracious appear- 
ance, and he would have done much better to take the sine- 
cure office of the Duchy, it being quite absurd to suppose 
tliat he could be degraded by holding any office, no mat- 
ter what. The Duke owned it would have been better to 
wait till Parliament was up before anything was done, and 
he regarded the question of the particular office much as 
I do. 

There was a discussion in the House of Lords on Monday 
night on the war, when Lyndhurst made a grand speech, 
wonderful at his age — 82 ; he spoke for an hour and a quar- 
ter with as much force and clearness as at any time of his 
life : it was greatly admired. Clarendon spoke well and 
strongly, and elicited expressions of satisfaction from Derby, 
after whom Aberdeen rose, and imprudently spoke in the 
sense of desiring peace, a speech which has been laid hold of, 
and drawn down upon him a renewal of the violent abuse 
with which he has been all along assailed. I see nothing in 
his speech to justify the clamor, but it was very ill judged in 
him with his antecedents to say what he did, which malig- 
nity could so easily lay hold of. 



144 REIGN OF QUEEN YICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

June 25t7i. — There never was such a state of things as 
that which now exists between the Government, the Party, 
and the House of Commons. John Eussell made such a 
hash of it last week, and put himself and his Government in 
such a position, that nothing but the war, and the impossi- 
bility which everybody feels there is of making any change 
of Government in the midst of it, prevents the immediate 
downfall of this Administration. Last week John Russell 
opposed the motion for the abolition of Church rates in a 
flaming High Tory and Church speech. The motion was 
rejected by a slender majority, but his speech gave great 
offence to the Liberal party and his own friends. Immedi- 

(ktely afterward came on the motion in the UniA^ersity Bill 
for admitting Dissenters to the University. This John 
Eussell opposed again, although in his speech he declared 
he was in favor of the admission of Dissenters, but he ob- 
jected to the motion on various grounds. The result was 
that he went into the lobby with Disraeli and the whole 
body of the Tories, while the whole of the Liberal party an3! 
^ all his own friends and supporters went against him and de- 
/ feated him by a majority of 91. He took with him six or 
seven of his colleagues, and two or three of the underlings. 
Molesworth, Bernal Osborne, and some more stayed away, 
and some others voted in the majority. In the majority 
were found Christopher and a few Tories besides, who, how- 
ever, only voted with the object and hope of damaging the 
bill itself and procuring its rejection in the House of Lords. 
Never was man placed in so deplorable and humiliating a 
position as John Russell, and nothing can exceed his folly 
and mismanagement in getting himself into such a scrape. 
The indignation and resentment of the Liberals are bound- 
less, and I think he has completely put an extinguisher on 
himself as a statesman and as the leader of a party ; they 
never will forgive him or feel any confidence in him again. 
/'There was a capital article on him and his proceedings in the 
j "Times" yesterday, which was not acrimonious, like some 
\pthers on him, and was perfectly just and true. 

The victorious Liberals managed their affairs very ill. 
Instead of resting satisfied with a victory which must have 
been decisive (for after all the House of Commons had af- 
firmed the principle of admitting the Dissenters by so large 
a majority, neither the House of Lords nor the IJniversity 
would have ventured to oppose it), they imprudently pi'essed 



1854.] POPULARITY OF THE WAR. 145 

on another division/* in which they were beaten, though by 
a small majority, and this of course does away with a good 
deal of the effect of the first division. Between the recent 
changes which were universally distasteful, and his extraor- 
dinary maladroitness in these questions, Lord John is fallen 
prodigiously in public favor and opinion, and while he is, or 
has been till very recently, dreaming of again being Prime 
Minister, it is evident that he is totally unfit to be the leader 
of the Government in the House of Commons even in a sub- 
ordinate post. He communicates with nobody, he has no 
confidence in or sympathy with any one, he does not impart 
his intentions or his wishes to his own political followers, and 
does not ask to be informed of theirs, but he buries himself 
at Richmond and only comes forth to say and do everything 
that is most imprudent and unpopular. 

The House of Commons is in a state of complete anarch}', ^ 
and nobody has any hold on it ; matters, bad enough through 
John Russell, are made worse by Aberdeen, whose speech the 
other night has made a great, but I think unnecessary clamor; 
and Layard, who is his bitter enemy, took it up in the House 
of Commons, and has given notice of a motion on it which 
is equivalent to a vote of censure. Almost at the same mo- 
ment Aberdeen, with questionable prudence and dignity, 
gave notice in the Lords that on Monday he should explain 
the speech he made the other night. Layard's design can 
hardly be matured, because they never can permit a speech 
made in one House of Parliament to be made the subject of 
a motion and debate in the other. It is, however, incontest- 
able that clamor and misrepresentation have succeeded in 
raising a vast prejudice against Aberdeen, and that he is ex- 
ceedingly unpopular. 

The people are wild about this war, and besides the gen- 
eral confidence that we are to obtain very signal success in 
our naval and military operations, there is a violent desire to 
force the Emperor to make a very humiliating peace, and a 
strong conviction that he will very soon be /Compelled to do 
so. This belief is the cause of jtfie great rise which has been 
taking place in the pub^ securities, and all sorts of stories 
are rife of the terror and dislike of the war which prevail in 
Russia, and of the agitation and melancholy in which the 

1 [It seems it was ^Ir. Walpolc who insisted on the second division, which 
he did for the express purpose of neutralizing: the effeet of the first, hoping to 
get a majority, wliicb he did, and it was rather dexterously done.] 

1 



146 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

Emperor is said to be plunged. But the authentic accounts 
from St. Petersburg tell a very different tale. They say, and 
our Consul just arrived from St. Petersburg confirms the 
statement, that the Emperor is calm and resolute, that his 
popularity is very great, and the Eussians of all classes en- 
thusiastic in his cause, and that they are prepared to a man 
to sacrifice their properties and their lives in a vigorous prose- 
cution of the war. 

July 2th. — It is remarkable that the G-overnment are 
unquestionably stronger in the House of Lords than in the 
House of Commons, as has been clearly proved by the result 
of the Oxford University Bill. Derby endeavored to alter 
it, and was completely defeated. There were several divis- 
ions, in all of which the Government obtained large majori- 
ties, and at last Derby said it was evidently useless to propose 
any alterations, as the Government could do what they 
pleased in that House. The session is drawing to a close ; 
that is, though it will last a month longer, all important 
business is over. The Government will end it much in the 
same condition as they were in at the beginnmg of it, only 
that their weakness and want of popularity have been mani- 
fested in a thousand ways during the session. Aberdeen's 
explanatory speech and the publication of his despatch of 
1829 have given rather a turn to the current against him ; 
for though his violent opponents still snarl at him and abuse 
him, the impartial people begin to think he is not so bad as 
he has been represented, and the excessive absurdity of the 
charges with which he has been assailed begins to strike 
people. There is still, however, a strong prejudice against 
him, particularly among the extreme Liberals, and I saw a 
long letter from Sir Benjamin Hall to the Duke of Bedford 
setting forth the discontent of the Liberal party and vehe- 
mently urging that the Government should be immediately 
modified, Aberdeen retire, and Lord John Eussell again be 
Minister, with Palmerst©n as War Minister — perfectly absurd 
,'and impracticable, butjhowing what the notions are of the 
/ ultra-Eadicals.j The Tories, agreeing in nothing else, concur 
[ with the Eadicals in hating Aberdeen because he represents 
• the Peel jmrty, and is Minister as the successor of Sir Eobert 
i Peel, for whose memory their hatred is as intense as it was 
'\,for his person Avhen he was alive. The war goes on without 
any immediate results, and without, as far as can be seen, 
a probability of the attainment of any signal or important 



1854.] ATTITUDE OF THE GERMAN POWERS. 147 

successes. The foolish public here, always extravagant and 
impatient, clamor for attacks upon Sebastopol and Cron- 
stadt, and are very indignant that these places are not taken, 
without knowing anything of the feasibility of such opera- 
tions. We now begin to believe that Austria is going to side 
actively with us, but we do not feel certain of it, nor shall 
we till she actually enters on the campaign. 

July 19ih. — Within a few days everything is changed. 
In respect to Austria, the intrigues of Russia with Prussia, 
and the determination of the King to do everything that he 
can or that he dares to assist his imperial brother-in-law, 
have had the effect of paralyzing the Austrian movements, 
and suspending the operation of her Treaty with Turkey. 
She cannot venture to declare war against Eussia and to 
march her army into the Principalities while there is a large 
Eussian force on the borders of Galicia, and the Prussians 
are in such an ambiguous attitude and disposition, that she 
can not only not depend upon Prussia to execute their de- 
fensive Treaty by protecting her dominions in the event of 
their being attacked by Russia, but she cannot depend upon 
not being taken in flank by Prussia as the ally of Eussia. 
Clarendon told me on Sunday that it was impossible to make 
out what Austria was about, or what she really means to do. 
There is no doubt about Prussia, and he still inclines to be- 
lieve that Austria's disposition to act with us is unchanged, 
but that she is compelled to act a cautious and dilatory part 
by her uncertainty as to Prussia. 

On Monday John Eussell convoked his supporters and 
quasi-supporters to a gathering in Downing Street, when ho 
harangued them on the state of affairs and the difficulties of 
the Government, intimating the necessity of being better 
supported if the Government was to go on at all. There are 
differences of opinion as to the way in which the meeting 
went off, and whether it was on the whole satisfactory. The 
principal speakers were Bright, Vernon Smith, and Hors- 
man, the two latter bitter enough against the Government. 
Bright, rather hostile, spoke well and alluded to Aberdeen 
in a friendly spirit, as did Hume. The meeting gradually 
melted away, so that Lord John had no opportunity of mak- 
ing a reply, which was a pity, as he might have answered 
the objectors. The best proof, however, that on the whole 
it was successful, was afforded by the fact that there was 
neither debate nor division on the War Secretary's estimate 



148 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

moved for by Lord Jolin that night. All went off with the 
greatest ease. I am in hopes, therefore, that the Government 
is somewhat in better plight than it was. 

August Uh. — I have been out of town for the greater 
part of the time since the 19th ultimo, at Goodwood, nearly 
ten days. Nothing very important has occurred in politics. 
As the session has drawn toward a close, the Government 
have, on the whole, done rather better in Parliament, that 
is, the Opposition have been quite incapable of striking any 
blows or doing them any injury. The points that were 
expected to be made against them entirely failed, and, with 
the exception of one personal matter, they have had no diffi- 
culties or annoyances to vex them. This matter was the case 

of , the denouement of which took place two days ago ; 

after being Gladstone's private secretary for two years, this 
gentleman was appointed by Newcastle, Just before he gave 
up the Colonies, to be Governor of South Australia. The 
appointment was criticised, but about ten days ago it was 
called in question by the House of Commons, and at the 
same time rumors were rife that he had been gambling in 
the funds and had lost money ; he denied, and authorized 
his friends to deny the imputation, but some of the Carlton 
runners got scent of his transactions and followed it up with 
such perseverance that he became alarmed, and thought him- 
self obliged to prevent the shame and odium of detection by 
confessing the fact. The consequence was that the appoint- 
ment was cancelled, and the whole matter explained and 
discussed on Thursday night in the House of Commons, 
when George Grey made a long statement. The discussion 
upon it was very creditable to the House, for there was no 
personal animosity and no coarseness or inhumanity dis- 
played, but, on the contrary, forbearance and good nature 
toward the individual. Any expectation of being able to 
wound Gladstone through him has quite failed. He is a 
clever fellow enough and well educated, but he has been 
very imprudent, and contrived at once to lose his place of 
private secretary, his government, his seat in Parliament, 
his character, and his money. 

At last it does now appear as if Austria was going to Join 
us completely against Russia, and the invasion of the Crimea 
is about to take place in complete ignorance of the means 
of resistance and defence possessed by Russia, and whether 
it will be a nearly impossible or comparatively easy enterprise. 



1854.] CLOSE OF THE SESSION. I49 

Clarendon, when I saw him last Sunday, expressed great 
alarm at the state of affairs in Spain, from the weakness of 
Espartero, the difficulty of any cordial union between the 
military chiefs, so long rivals, and above all from the re- 
publican element which is so rife in Spain, and which may 
produce effects extending far beyond that country. He said 
that the French Government were acting in complete har- 
mony and concert with us ; the Emperor is much alarmed 
at the state of Spain, but resolved to go with us in the policy 
of non-interference, and to take no part but such as we should 
take also. 11 he adheres to this wise course, it will cement 
the alliance between the countries, and bind us to him more 
than anything that could happen, and it will form a great 
and happy contrast to the policy of Louis Philippe and the 
conduct of Palmerston and Guizot. 

August lUh. — The session closed on Saturday, and, all 
things considered, the Government wound it up tolerably 
well. Clanricarde, true to the last to his spiteful opposition, 
gave Clarendon an opportunity of making a parting speech 
on foreign affairs, of which he acquitted himself very success- 
fully, and placed himself and the Government in a very good 
position as respects our diplomacy and the conduct of the 
war. But though all immediate danger is removed from the 
Government, and, unless they fall to pieces during the re- 
cess by any internal dissensions, they will jirobably go on 
unscathed, the state of affairs is very unsatisfactory, and 
pregnant with future troubles and difficulties. The Govern- 
ment in its relations with the House of Commons throughout 
the past session has been extraordinary, and I believe unpre- 
cedented. From the Revolution to the time of the Reform 
Bill, that is during 150 years, the system of Parliamentary 
government had been consolidating itself, and was practically 
established ; the Sovereign nominally, the House of Com- 
mons really, appointed the ministers of the Crown, and it 
was settled as an axiom that when the Government was un- 
able to carry its measures, and was subjected to defeats in 
the House of Commons, its resignation was indispensable — 
not indeed that any and every defeat was necessarily fatal, 
because governments have often been beaten on very impor- 
tant questions without being ruined or materially weakened, 
but it was supposed that repeated defeats and Government 
measures repeatedly rejected implied the withdrawal of the 
confidence and support of Parliament so clearly that in the 



150 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

aggregate such defeats were equivalent to an absolute vote of 
want of confidence, which is in itself a sentence of political 
death. In former times the Crown was a power, and the 
House of Commons was a power, generally blended and act- 
ing harmoniously together, but sometimes resolving them- 
selves into their separate elements, and acting independently, 
perhaps antagonistically, toward each other. In modern 
times, and more entirely in oar own, this separate and inde- 
pendent action ceased, the Crown became identified with the 
majority of the House of Commons, and no minister, when 
he could no longer command that majority so as to be certain 
of carrying out all, or nearly all, his measures of government 
and legislation, could continue to be minister, and was 
obliged as a matter of course to surrender office to those who 
were in possession of, or could count upon, that command. 
The ministers were taken from the ranks of the Parliament- 
ary majority, and when once appointed it was considered 
indispensable and certain that the same majority would place 
confidence in them, accept at their hands all the measures 
they should concert and propose, and support them against 
all hostile attacks, the spirit of party and combination sup- 
pressing all individual prejudices, crotchets, fancies, and 
partial or local influences. The Government and the party 
were bound by a sort of mutual allegiance to each other, and 
supposed to be. and usually were, animated by the same spirit 
and a communion of opinion and interest. Such were the 
general relations and such the normal state of things, liable 
to occasional variations and disturbances, bringing about 
various political changes according to circumstances. But 
the system was complete, and practically it worked well, and 
conduced to the prosperity and progress of the coTintry. 

When the great measure of Reform in Parliament was 
introduced in 1831, apart from all question of party strug- 
gles there was the still greater question considered by many 
reflecting people, whether the new Parliamentary and elect- 
oral system would be found compatible with the old practice 
of government by means of party and steady Parliamentary 
majorities. The Duke of Wellington in particular expressed 
his apprehension that it would not, and he put the question 
Avhich has so often been quoted and referred to, "How is the 
King's Government to be carried on ?" He did not, so far 
as I remember, develop his thoughts at the time, and argue 
the matter in detail, but it is very evident that what he an- 



1854.] REVIEW OF PARTIES. 151 

ticipated was some such state of things as that at which we 
now appear to have arrived. For a long time his apprehen- 
sions appeared to be groundless, and certainly they were not 
realised by the course of events. In consequence of political 
circumstances which I shall not stop to specify and explain, 
notwithstanding all the changes which were effected, the 
governments contrived to go on without any insuperable 
difficulties, and without any striking difference from the way 
in which governments had been previously conducted. The 
popularity of the Reform Bill Administration supported 
them for a few years, and the Tory reaction, together with 
the great abilities of Sir Eobert Peel, supported the Conserv- 
ative Government for a few years more. Matters went on 
better or worse, as might be, till the great Conservative 
schism in 184G, which completely broke uji that party, and 
produced a final separation between the able few and the 
numerous mediocrity of the party. Ever since that time the 
House of Commons has been in a state of disorganisation and 
confusion : the great party ties had been severed. After the 
repeal of the Corn Laws and the establishment of Free Trade 
it was difficult to find any great party principles which could 
be converted into bonds of union, and every day it became 
obviously more and more difficult to form any government 
that could hope to be strong or permanent. John Russell 
succeeded on the fall of Peel, but the Peelites warmly resent- 
ed the conduct of the Whigs in Peel's last struggle, and, 
though they hated Derby and his crew much more, never 
gave Lord John's Government a cordial support. 

Next came the quarrel between Palmerston and Lord 
John and the fall of the Whig Government. Many people, 
and Graham especially, were of opinion that a Derby Govern- 
ment/or a ^me wasan inevitable but indispensable evil, and 
after one abortive attempt at length a Derby Government 
was formed. From the beginning nobody thought it could 
last ; the wretched composition of it, its false position, and 
the mixture of inconsistency and insincerity which charac- 
terized it, deprived it of all respect, authority, and influence, 
and it was the more weak because divided and dissatisfied 
within, and because all the more honest and truthful of the 
party were disgusted and ashamed of the part they were 
playing. Thus feeble and powerless, despised by the public 
and detested by the Court, the first moment that the different 
parties and sections of parties combined to overthrow them, 



152 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap, VI. 

their destruction was inevitable, and after enjoying office for 
one year they fell. 

It was easier to turn them out than to find a good and 
strong government to replace them. It was obvious that 
neither the Whigs nor the Peelites could form a government, 
still less Palmerston or the Radicals, anj^^t became a matter 
of absolute necessity to attempt a coali^on, which, whatever 
objections there might be to coalitions, would at least have 
the advantage of filling the several offices with able men. 

When the Queen had a short time before, in anticipation 
of the event, consulted the Duke of Bedford as to whom she 
should send for when Derby resigned, he had advised her to 
send for Lord Lansdowne and Lord Aberdeen, being himself 
conscious that Lord John could not again form a government, 
at least not at that time. She did send for them, and each 
of them very sincerely and earnestly endeavored to persuade 
the other to accept the post of Prime Minister, and the task 
of forming a Government. Lansdowne was ill at the time, 
and while it is very doubtful whether anything would have 
induced him to come forward, his attack of gout was enough 
to insure his peremptory refusal, and nothing remained but 
that Aberdeen should make the attempt. The task was 
difficult and unpleasant, for it was impossible not to make 
many people discontented and mortified, inasmuch as places 
could not be found for all who had previously been in office, 
or who aspired to it, and it was no easy matter to decide 
who should be taken in, and who left out. Aberdeen resolved 
to make the coalition very comprehensive, and as much as 
possible to form a government which should represent the 
Opposition which had turned Derby out, but he put almost 
all the Peelite leaders into good offices, and the exclusions 
were principally on the Whig side. For a long time it was 
very doubtful whether John Russell would enter the Govern- 
ment at all, but Aberdeen was so well aware that he could 
not do without him that he announced his determination to 
throw up the Government unless Lord John consented to 
join. After much hesitation, and a struggle between his 
family and some malcontent hangers on who wished him to 
keep aloof, on one side, and the wisest of his political friends 
and colleagues who urged that it was his duty to come for- 
ward on the other, Lord John consented to lead the House 
of Commons, but without an office. He proposed indeed 
to take the Presidency of the Council, to which Aberdeen 



1854.] THE COALITION GOVERNMENT. 153 

objected, but gave bim tbe cboice of every other office. He 
said that if he could not be President of the Council he 
would be nothing at all, and so it was settled. Next came 
the negotiation about Palmerston, who first refused, and 
afterward, at the pressing solicitation of Lansdowne, agreed 
to join. Molesworth came in to represent the Radicals ; 
Monsell and Keogh (not in the Cabinet) represented the 
Irish, and so the Coalition Government was completed. 

Very strongly composed, it never, however, was so strong 
as it looked. The Ministers, Aberdeen, John Kussell, Palm- 
erston, having consented to act together, were too sensible, 
too gentlemanlike and well-bred, not to live in outward good 
fellowship with each, other, but their resjiective and relative 
antecedents could not be forgotten. There could be no real 
cordiality between Palmerston and Aberdeen, or between Palm- 
erston and John Russell, and both the latter all along felt 
uncomfortable and dissatisfied with their respective positions. 
Lord John fancied he was degraded, and his flatterers en- 
deavored to persuade him he was so, by joining a govern- 
ment of which he was not the head, and by serving under 
Aberdeen. Palmerston could not forget the long and bitter 
hostility which had been carried on between himself and 
Aberdeen upon foreign policy, and still less his having been 
turned out of the Foreign Office by John Eussell. The 
Whigs were dissatisfied that the Peelites, who had no party 
to bring to the support of the Government, should have so 
large a share of the offices, and above all the great bulk of 
the Whig party could not endure that a Peelite should be at 
the head of the Government, and of all the Peelites they most 
particularly disliked Aberdeen, so that they yielded a reluct- 
ant allegiance, and gave a grudging and capricious support 
to thev'iQoalitioil. 

Nevc^rtheloss, the first session of Parliament was pretty 
well got through, principally owing to Gladstone's success- 
ful Budget, the great ability he displayed in the House of 
Commons, and the efficient way in which the public busi- 
ness was done, while the numerous measures of improve- 
ment which were accomplished raised the reputation of the 
Government, and gave them security if not strength. The 
Session of 1853 closed in quiet, prosperity, and sunshine, but 
during the recess clouds began to gather round the Govern- 
ment ; they were beset with internal and external difficulties. 
John Russell became more and more discontented, and at 



154 EEIGX OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

last he announced to Aberdeen that he was resolved not to 
meet Parliament again in his present position, and intimated 
his intention to be once more Prime Minister or to quit the 
concern. In the meantime the Turco-Eussian quarrel had 
begun, the hostile correspondence with Eussia was in full 
activity, the public mind in a high state of excitement, the 
press bellowed for war and poured forth incessant volleys of 
abuse against the Grovernment, but more particularly against 
Aberdeen, who was singled out as the object of attack, and 
the persevering attempts to render him unpopular produced 
a certain amount of effect. The Cabinet became divided as 
to the mode of carrying on the dispute and the negotiations, 
some being for what were called vigorous measures, that is, 
for threats and demonstrations of force which could only lead 
to immediate war, while others were for exhausting every 
attempt to bring about an accommodation and preserve 
peace. Something was known or suspected of these divis- 
ions, they were published and commented on with enormous 
exaggerations and the most unscrupulous violations of truth, 
and the Tory and Eadical newspapers vied with each other 
in the violence of their denunciations of Aberdeen, and in 
a less degree, of Clarendon. 

When this fury was at its height, the world was startled 
and astounded by the news of Palmerston's resignation. It 
is needless to state here the history of that affair, which I 
have already recorded in ample detail. It was in vain that 
the *' Times " proclaimed that it was the Eeform Bill and not 
the Eastern Question which was the cause of it. The state- 
ment was scouted with the utmost scorn, and the public in- 
credulity was confirmed when the ''Morning Post," which 
was notoriously devoted to Palmerston, asserted the direct 
contrary. Everybody imagined that the Government would 
go to pieces, that when Parliament met there would be pro- 
digious revelations, and that the Eastern Question with^its 
supposed mismanagement would prove fatal to the Coalition 
Cabinet. The Derbyites were in raptures, and already 
counted on Palmerston as their own. Great as had been the 
public surprise and the exultation of the Carlton Club at 
Palmerston's resignation, greater still was that surprise and 
the mortification and disappointment of the Carlton, when a 
few days afterward it was announced that Palmerston had 
changed his mind and was not going to resign, l^obody 
could comprehend what it all meant, and ample scope was 



1854.] THE BLUE BOOKS. 155 

afforded to every sort of conjecture, and to all the statements 
and inventions tliat anybody chose to circulate. But as 
about the same time the Eastern affair progressed a step or 
two, and some energetic measures were adopted, the most 
plausible explanation was, that Palmerston had resigned 
because enough was not done, that the Government had been 
frightened into doing what he had before advised, and that, 
on their adopting his suggestion, he had consented to remain. 
In process of time the truth began to ooze out, but it never 
was comj^letely known till Parliament met, and even then 
many people continued to believe that though the Reform 
Bill was the pretext, the Eastern Question was the real cause 
of Palmerstou's conduct. 

These threatening clouds cleared away. Aberdeen told 
Lord John nothing should induce him to resign after all the 
attacks that had been made on him, and he would meet 
Parliament and defend himself. Lord John gave up his 
demands, and consented to go on leading the House of 
Commons. Palmerston agreed to swallow the Reform Bill, 
and at length Parliament met. Everybody was ravenous for 
the Blue Books, which as soon as possible were produced. 
Their production was eminently serviceable to the Govern- 
ment, and though some criticisms were made, and tliero 
were some desultory attacks in both Houses, and the press 
continued to be as scurrilous and abusive as ever, the 
general impression was extremely favorable. Clarendon's 
despatches were highly approved of, and all fair and candid 
observers, including many who had found fault with the 
Government before, declared that they were perfectly satis- 
fied that our policy had been wise and proper, and the 
whole of the negotiations very creditable to all who had 
been concerned in carrying them on. So little did the event 
correspond with the general expectation, that the Eastern 
Question, which had been considered to be the weak part of 
the Government, turned out to be its greatest strength; and 
the war which eventually broke out has been the principal 
cause of their being able to maintain themselves in power. 
It is now the fashion to say that if it were not for the Avar,' 
they would have been turned out long ago. It is certainly 
true that their power in the House of Commons has been 
limited to all that concerns the war, in. respect to whioh they 
have had no difficulty to contend with. The estimates have' 
been granted without a semblance of opposition, and they 



156 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. 

have received hearty and unanimous support in every meas- 
ure and every demand requisite for carrying on the war, 
nor, though exposed to some adverse criticism, have they 
been seriously assailed with regard to their diplomacy or 
their warlike jDreparations. 

But while this, which is the most essential, has also been 
their strongest point, on everthing else, without exception, 
they have been almost powerless, and the House of Commons 
has run riot with an independence and waywardness and a 
caprice of which it would be impossible to find an example. 
The Government has had no majority on which it could 
depend, and it has never brought forward any measure 
which it could count upon carrying through. Obliged to 
withdraw many measures altogether, and to submit to the 
alteration of others till they became totally different from 
what they originally proposed, their defeats have been innu- 
merable, and nobody seems to have the smallest scruple in 
putting them in a minority upon any occasion; at the same 
time it was very evident that the House of Commons was 
determined that they should continue in office, for when- 
ever any vital question arose, or any vote which could be con- 
strued into a question of confidence, and therefore involved 
the existence of the Government, they were always sure of a 
majority, and the Derbyite opposition, while they were able 
to worry and insult them by partial defeats and by exposing 
their general weakness, found themselves miserably baffled 
whenever they attempted anything which had a tendency to 
place the Government in serious embarrassment. The whole 
conduct of the Session, and the relations of the Government 
with the House of Commons, presented something certamly 
very different from what had ever been seen before in the 
memory of the oldest statesman, implied a total dissolution of 
party ties and obligations, and exhibited the Queen's Govern- 
ment and the House of Commons as resolved into their separate 
elements, and acting toward each other in independent and 
often antagonistic capacities. Disraeli was always reproach- 
ing the Government with holding office on what he termed 
the unconstitutional principle of not being supported by a 
majority of the House of Commons, and of living from hand 
to mouth ; but though this was a plausible topic, he knew 
very well that no other government could be formed which 
could exist otherwise, and that the House of Commons, while 
it buffeted the Government about au gre de ses caprices, was 



1854.] PRECARIOUS TENURE OF THE MLXISTRY. 157 

quite determined to keep it alive, and not to allow any other 
to be substituted for it. At present it is difficult to see how 
this state of things is to be altered, and time alone can show 
whether great parties will again be formed, and governments 
be enabled to go on as in times past, powerful in a consistent 
and continual Parliamentary support, or whether a great 
change must be submitted to, and governments be content 
to drag on a precarious existence, taking what they can get 
from the House of Commons, and endeavoring to strengthen 
themselves by enlisting public opinion on their side. 

With regard to the prospects of this Government, much 
depends on the progress of the war ; for though they have 
done their part and are not responsible for failure of success, 
they are sure to be strengthened by success or weakened by 
failure. But much depends also upon what passes in the 
Cabinet. John Russell, whose mind is in a state of chronic 
discontent which was suspended for a time, is again becom- 
ing uneasy and restless, and will soon begin making fresh 
difficulties. Then his Reform Bill, which he gave up so 
reluctantly, is still in his thoughts, and he will most likely 
insist upon bringing it forward again, a proposition which is 
sure to produce dissension in the Cabinet. 



CHAPTER VIT. 

Difficulties of the Campaisrn— Prince Albert and the King- of Prussia — The Prince froea to 
France— Military Commanders — Critical Relations of the Ministers — The Crimea— The 
Emperor Napoleon and Prince Albert— Austria and the Allies — The Landin<? in the 
Crimea -The Battle of the Alma — lioyal Invitations — The Crimean Expedition — Lord 
John's Hostility to his Colleagues— False Report from Sebastopol — The Crimean Cam- 
paign — Anecdotes of Lord Raaplan— The Russian Defence — Trade with the Enemy — ■ 
Anecdote of Nesselrode— John Brighfs Opinion of the War — Defence of Sebastopol — 
The Balaklava Charge— The Judges at the Nomination of Sheriffs- Lord John talces 
more moderate Views — The Battle of Inkerman — Impolicy of the War— Inkerraan — 
Spirit of the Nation — Military Enthusiasm — Parliament summoned — Want of Fore- 
sight — Accounts of the Battle — Lord Raglan as a General— Sufferings of the Army — 
Agreement with Austria— Opponents of the War — Meeting of Parliament — The Gov- 
ernment attacked — The Foreign Enlistment Bill — Foreign Enlistment Bill passed — Mr. 
Bright's Speech on the War — Review of the Year. 

August 29th, 1854. — I have been out of town since the 
above was written ; at Grimston for York races, where Lord 
Derby was in high force and spirits, carrying everything be- 
fore him at the races, and not a word was ever uttered on 
politics. There is no news, but dreadful accounts of the 



158 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

health of both armies and of the prevalence of cholera both 
abroad and at home. The French particularly, who have 
lost the most, are said to be completely demoralized and dis- 
heartened, and to abhor the war which they always disliked 
from the beginning. My present impression is that we shall 
come to grief in this contest ; not that we shall be beaten in 
the field by the Eussians, but that between the unhealthy 
climate, the inaccessibility of the country, and the distance 
of our resources, Russia will be able to keep us at bay, and 
baffle our attempts to reduce her to submission. 

September Uli. — At The Grove for a couple of days, 
where I had much talk with Clarendon, and he showed me 
a great many papers about different matters : a very good 
letter written by Prince Albert to the King of Prussia, who 
had written to him a hypocritical letter, asking where the 
English and French fleets were going to winter, and whether 
he might depend on them in case he was attacked by Russia 
in the Baltic, .which Clarendon said was a mere artifice to 
obtain knowledge of our plans, that he might impart them 
to the Emperor Nicholas, as he well knew he was in no dan- 
ger of being attacked by Russia. The Prince wrote an ex- 
cellent answer, giving him no information, and entering 
into the whole question of Prussian policy without reserve. 
He starts to-day to Boulogne, invited by a letter from the 
Emperor himself, beginning " Mon cher frere," replied to 
very well and civilly by Prince Albert who began, " Sire et 
mon cher frere." Clarendon said Aberdeen was as hot as 
any one upon the Crimean expedition. 

They are not at all satisfied with Lord Raglan, whom 
they think oldfashioned and pedantic, and not suited to the 
purpose of carrying on active operations. They wanted him 
to make use of the Turkish light cavalry, Bashi-Bazouks, 
who under good management might be made very service- 
able, but he would have nothing to say to them ; and still 
more they are disgusted with his discouragement of the In- 
dian officers who have repaired to the army, and who are, in 
fact, the most efficient men there are. They look on Gen- 
eral Brown as the best man there, and have great expecta- 
tions of Cathcart. It is very curious that neither the Gov- 
ernment nor the commanders have the slightest information 
as to the Russian force in the Crimea or the strength of Se- 
bastopol. Some prisoners they took affirmed that there were 
150,000 men in the peninsulaj but nobody believes that, ex- 



1854,j CRITICAL RELATIONS OF THE MINISTERS. 159 

cept Dundas who gives credit to it. They are impatient for 
the termination of Dundas's period of service, which will be 
in December, when Lyons will command the fleet. 

September 11th. — I went to The Grove on Friday, but 
was brought up on Saturday by gout, and detained in Lon- 
don ever since. We had much talk about a variety of things. 
The Prince is exceedingly well satisfied with his visit to the 
Emperor. The invitation to Windsor appears to have been 
publicly given in an after dinner speech. Clarendon said a 
great deal about the Government, its prospects and its diffi- 
culties, and of the conduct and dispositions of different men 
in it, that the Peelites had all behaved admirably, and he 
has a very high opinion of Newcastle, who is able, laborious, 
and fair. He does not see so much of Aberdeen as he did 
last year while the question of peace or war was still pend- 
ing. He and Aberdeen do not very well agree, and there- 
fore Aberdeen does not come to the Foreign Office as he used 
to do. I asked him in what they differed, and what it was 
Aberdeen now wanted or expected. He said that Aberdeen 
was quite of ojoinion that a vigorous prosecution of the war 
afforded the best chance of restoring peace, and that he was 
as eager as anybody for the expedition of Sebastopol, but he 
was out of humor with the whole thing, took no interest in 
anything that was done, and instead of looking into all the 
departments and animating each as a Prime Minister should 
do, he kept aloof and did nothing, and constantly raised ob- 
jections to various matters of detail. In the Cabinet he 
takes hardly any part, and when differences of opinion arise 
he makes no effort to reconcile them, as it is his business to 
do. In short, though a very good and honorable man, he is 
eminently unfitted for his post, and in fact he feels this him- 
self, has no wish to retain it, but the contrary, and only 
does so because he knows the whole machine would fall to 
pieces if he were to resign. John Russell Clarendon thinks 
a necessity as leader of the House of Commons, but he is 
disgusted with his perpetual discontent and the bad influence 
exercised over him by his confidants, and he thinks he has 
not acted a generous part toward Aberdeen in suffering him 
to be attacked and vilified as he has been by his (John's) 
followers and adherents, who endeavor to make a distinction 
between him and Aberdeen, which is equally unconstitutional 
on principle and false in fact. The same thing applies to 
Palmerston, and thev have neither of them stood forward as 



160 REIGX OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

they ought to have done in Aberdeen's defence, and claimed 
a joint responsibility with him in every act of the Grovern- 
ment. We talked over what could possibly be done if Aber- 
deen did retire, and I suggested that he (Clarendon) might 
take his place, and that the rest would be more willing to 
accept him for the head of the Government than any other 
man. He expressed the greatest disinclination to this idea, 
to which he never could consent, but owned his present 
office was extremely agreeable to him and deeply interesting. 
Nevertheless, I do not think, if the case occurred and the 
place was offered to him consensu omnium, that his scruples 
would be insurmountable. 

So certain are they of taking Sebastopol that they have 
already begun to discuss what they shall do with it when 
they have got it, Palmerston wrote Clarendon a long letter 
setting forth the various alternatives, and expressing his own 
opinion that the Crimea should be restored to the Turks. 
Clarendon is dead against this, and so, he told me, is Strat- 
ford. At Boulogne the Emperor and Newcastle agreed that 
the best course will be to occupy the Crimea and garrison 
Sebastopol with a large force of English and French, and 
hold it en depot till they can settle something definitive ; and 
Clarendon leans to this arrangement, which will at least be 
a gain of time. 

London, September IWi. — At The G-rove again last week, 
where as usual I heard a great deal of miscellaneous matters 
from Clarendon and read a great many despatches from 
different people. I asked him what the Prince had told him 
of his visit to Boulogne, and what his opinion was of the 
Emperor. He said the Prince had talked to him a great deal 
about it all at Osborne, and this is the substance of what 
he said as far as I recollect it : The Prince was very well 
satisfied with his reception ; the Emperor took him in his 
carriage tete d tete to the great review, so that they con- 
versed together long and without interruption or witnesses. 
The Emperor seems to have talked to the Prince with 
more ahandon and unreserve than is usual to him. The 
Prince was exceedingly struck with his extreme apathy and 
languor (which corresponds with what Thiers told me of 
him) and with his ignorance of a variety of matters which it 
peculiarly behoved him to know. He asked the Prince a 
great many questions about the English Constitution and its 
working, relating to which the Prince gave him ample and 



1854.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON AND PRINCE ALBERT. 161 

detailed explanation, and Clarendon said that all that he 
repeated as being said to the Emperor was as good, sound, 
and correct as it possibly could be. The Emperor said that 
he felt all the difficulties of his own position, and enlarged 
upon them with great freedom, particularly adverting, as 
one of them, to the absence of any aristocracy in France. 
The Prince, in reply to this, seems to have given him very 
judicious advice ; for he told him that any attempt to create 
an aristocracy in France resembling that of England must 
be a failure, the conditions and antecedents of the two 
countries being so totally dissimilar ; that he might confer 
titles and distinctions to any amount, and so surround him- 
self with adherents whom he had obliged, but that he had 
better confine himself to that and not attempt to do more. 
When they parted, the Emperor said he hoped it would not 
be the last time he should have the pleasure of seeing His 
Eoyal Highness, to which the Prince replied that he hoped 
not, and that he was charged by the Queen to express her 
hope that he would pay her a visit at Windsor, and give her 
an opportunity of making the Empress's acquaintance, to 
which the Emperor responded " he should be very glad to 
see the Queen at Paris." This insouciant reception of an in- 
vitation which a few months before he would have Jumped 
at is very unaccountable, but it meant something, for it was 
evidently a mot cVordre, because when the Prince took leave 
of Marshal Vaillant, he said he hoped he would accompany 
the Emperor to Windsor, where, though they could show no 
such military spectacle as the Emperor had shown him, they 
would do what they could, to which Vaillant replied, ''We 
hope to see Her Majesty the Queen and Your Eoyal High- 
ness at Paris." There seems no disposition at present to give 
him the Garter which is supposed to be the object of his 
ambition, and which Walewski is always suggesting. 

Clarendon is extremely disgusted at the conduct of Aus- 
tria and her declaration of neutrality, and he said that the 
complaints of the doings of the Austrians in the Principali- 
ties were not without foundation. Drouyn de Lhuys spoke 
very openly to Hiibner on the subject, and pitched into the 
Austrian Government without stint or reserve, and Cowley 
sent a despatch in which all he said was detailed, with the 
addition that it was Drouyn de Lhuys' intention to embody 
it in a formal despatch to Bourqueney to be communicated 
to the Austrian Government. 



162 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

September 22c?. — The army has landed in the Crimea 
without opposition. It is difficult to conceive that the 
Eussians should have been so utterly wanting in spirit, and 
so afraid to risk anything, as to let the landing take place 
without an attempt either by land or sea to obstruct it. 
They have a great fleet lying idle at Sebastopol, and though, 
if it had come out, its defeat and perhaps destruction would 
have been certain, it would have been better to perish thus, 
mtam in vuhiare poiiens, and inflicting damage on its enemy 
as it certainly might have done, than to remain ingloriously 
in harbor and wait to be taken or destroyed, as it infallibly 
will be when the town itself shall fall. Great indignation is 
expressed at the prospect of Napier's returning from the 
Baltic without making any attempt on Cronstadt, or to per- 
form any exploit beyond the Bomarsund afl'air. He is de- 
tested by his officers, and they one and all complain that he 
has been so little adventurous, and maintain that more 
might have been done. The justness and correctness of 
this, time will show. 

October 2d. — At The Grove on Saturday, where I gener- 
ally pick up some scraps of information from Clarendon on 
one subject or another. On Saturday came the news that 
Sebastopol had been taken, which we did not believe a word 
of, but after dinner the same evening we got the telegraphic 
account of the victory gained on the 20th on the heights 
above the Alma, and yesterday Eaglan's telegraphic despatch 
was published. It is nervous work for those who have 
relations and friends in the army to hear of a " desperate 
battle " and severe loss, and to have to wait so many days for 
the details and casualties. The affair does not seem, so far 
as we can conjecture, to have been very decisive, when only 
two guns and a few prisoners were taken. If it had depended 
on St. Arnaud, the expedition would have put back even 
after it had sailed ; while actually at sea, St. Arnaud, who 
stated himself to be ill and unable to move, summoned a 
council of war on board the '' Ville de Paris." The weather 
was so rough that it was determined that it would not be 
safe for Raglan to go, as with his own arm he could not get 
on board ; so Dun das went, and General Brown, and some 
other officer deputed by Raglan to represent himself, to- 
gether with the French Admiral. A discussion took place 
which lasted several hours. St. Arnaud strongly urged that 
the expedition should be put off till the spring, and he ob- 



1851.] THE INVITATION TO WINDSOR. 163 

jected to all that was proposed as to the place of landing — in 
short, threw every obstacle he could in the way of the whole 
thing. Dundas and all the English officers vehemently 
protested against any delay and change of plan, and repre- 
sented the intolerable shame and disgrace of putting back 
after having actually embarked, and their opposition to the 
French general's proposal was so vehement that he ended by 
giving way, rose from his sick bed, and consented to go on. 
He declared that he only agreed to the place proposed for 
landing in consequence of the urgent representations of his 
allies, and this he wrote home to his own Government. 
He is a very incapable, unfit man, and Clarendon told me 
that his own army recognized the great superiority of Rag- 
lan to him, and that the French were all delighted with the 
latter. 

It seems that there was some misunderstanding as to the 
invitation given by the Prince to the Emperor at Boulogne, 
and the latter gives a very different account of what passed 
from that given by the Prince. The Emperor says that 
when he took leave of the Prince, he said, " I have not been 
able to give you such a reception as I could have wished, but 
you see I am only occupying an hotel ; if you will come to 
Paris, where I should be delighted to receive the Queen, I 
could give her and yourself a more fitting reception ;" and 
then, he says, the Prince invited him to Windsor, which he 
only seems to have taken as a civility unavoidable under the 
circumstances. It is impossible to say which account is the 
true one, but I rather believe that of the Emperor to be 
correct. Clarendon wrote this to the Queen, whose answer 
I saw ; she said the intention was to make the invitation 
something between a cordial invitation and a mere civility, 
which the Emperor might avail himself of or not, according 
to his convenience. However, Her Majesty says she thinks 
the matter stands very well as it is, and she desires it may 
be notified to the Emperor that the most convenient time 
for his visit, if he comes, will be the middle of November. 

The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Napoleon have both 
been strongly opposed to the Crimean expedition : the lat- 
ter, they say, does nothing but cry, and is probably a poor 
creature and a poltroon. I am surprised the Duke should 
be so backward ; however, I hope to hear he has done his 
duty in the field. The clamor against Dundas in the fleet is 
prodigious, and the desire for his recall universal, but he 



164 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VH. 

will stay out his time now, which will be up in December. 
It is the same thing against Napier in the Baltic ; he will 
come away as soon as the ice sets in, and next year Lyons 
will be sent in his place, as the war will then be principally 
carried on in the north. 

I think a storm will before long threaten the Government 
from the quarter of John Eussell, who has been for some 
time at Minto. He wrote to Clarendon the other day, and 
alluded to the necessity of having an autumn session, to 
which Clarendon replied that he was not so fond of Parlia- 
ment as Lord John was, and deprecated very much any such 
measure. To this Lord John sent as odious and cantanker- 
ous an answer as I ever read, and one singularly illustrative 
of his character. He said that he was not fonder of Parlia- 
ment than other people, and his own position in the House 
of Commons had not been such as to make him the more so, 
and that it had been rendered more disagreeable by the fact 
of the two morning papers which professed to support the 
Government being always personally hostile to him ; but, he 
went on, if we were fortunate enough to obtain a complete 
success in the Crimea, he did not see why he should not be 
at liberty to retire from this, which he thought the very 
worst government he had ever known. Of course, if there 
was any failure, he must remain to bear his share of the re- 
sponsibility of it. Clarendon was immensely disgusted, but 
wrote back a very temperate answer. He said that it was 
equally difficult to go on with him and without him, for the 
Whigs, though often very angry with him, would follow him 
and would not follow anybody else. He thinks, however, 
that he is in a state of mind to create all sorts of embarrass- 
ments, and particularly that he will propose to bring forward 
his Eeform Bill again, the consequences of which nobody 
can foresee. He says Palmerston has behaved much better, 
for though he might complain, having been disappointed in 
certain objects he had (such as being War Minister), he has 
made no difficulties, and been very friendly. Clarendon 
confirmed what I had heard, that Aberdeen is in a state of 
great dejection and annoyance at the constant and virulent 
attacks on him in the press ; his mind is dejected by the ill- 
ness of his son, whom he never expects to see again, and this 
renders him sensitive and fretful, and he is weak enough to 
read all that is written against him instead of treating it 
with indifference and avoiding to look at the papers whose 



1854.] BATTLE OF THE ALMA. 165 

coliinins are day after day full of outrageous and random 
abuse. 

October 8th. — The whole of last week the newspapers 
without exception (but the " Morning Chronicle " particu- 
larly), with the "Times" at their head, proclaimed the fall 
of Sebastopol in flaming and triumphant articles and with 
colossal type, together with divers victories and all sorts of 
details, all which were trumpeted over the town and circu- 
lated through the country. I never believed one word of it, 
and entreated Delane to be less positive and more cautious, 
but he would not hear of it, and the whole world swallowed 
the news and believed it. Very soon came the truth, and it 
was shown that the reports were all false. Anybody who 
was not run away with by an exaggerated enthusiasm might 
have seen the probability that reports resting on no good au- 
thority would probably turn out untrue, but the press took 
them all for gospel, and every fool follows the press. When 
the bubble burst, the rage and fury of the deluded and de- 
luding journals knew no bounds, and the "Times" was 
especially sulky and spiteful. In consequence of a trifling 
error in a telegraphic despatch they fell on the Foreign 
Office and its clerks with the coarsest abuse, much to the 
disgust of Clarendon. 

October 20th. — At Xewmarket all last week ; very suc- 
cessful on paper, but won very little money. I am every day 
more confirmed in my resolution to get rid of my racehorses, 
but shall do it gradually and as opportunities occur, and 
then confine myself to breeding. The two objects I now have 
in view are this, and to get out of my oflice. I want to be 
independent, and be able to go where and do what I like for 
the short remainder of my life. I am aware that "man 
never is, but always to be blest," and therefore when I have 
shaken off racing and office I may possibly regret both ; but 
my mind is bent on the experiment, and I fancy I can amuse 
myself with locomotion, fresh scenes, and dabbling in litera- 
ture selon mes petits moyens. Of politics I am heartily sick, 
and can take but little interest in either governments or the 
individuals who compose them ; with the exception of Clar- 
endon I am on intimate and confidential terms with no one. 

Ever since the news came of the battle of the Alma, the 
country has been in a fever of excitement, and the news- 
papers have teemed with letters and descriptions of the 
events that occurred. Raglan has gained great credit, and 



168 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

his march on Balaklava is considered a very able and judi- 
cious operation. Although they do not utter a word of com- 
plaint, and are by way of being fully satisfied with our allies 
the French, the truth is that the English think they did very 
little for the success of the day, and Burghersh told some 
one that their not pressing on was the cause (and not the 
want of cavalry) why the Russian guns were not taken. The 
French, nevertheless, have been well disposed to take the 
credit of the victory to themselves. 

Burghersh tells two characteristic anecdotes of Eaglan. 
He was extremely put out at the acclamations of the soldiers 
when he appeared among them after the battle, and said to 
his staff as he rode along the line, in a melancholy tone, " I 
was sure this would happen. " He is a very modest man, 
and it is not in his nature any more than it was in that of 
the Duke of Wellington to make himself popular with the 
soldiers in the way Napoleon used to do, and who was conse- 
quently adored by them. The other story is that there were 
two French officers attached to headquarters — very good fel- 
lows — and that the staff were constantly embarrassed by the 
inveterate habit Raglan had of calling the enemy "the 
French. " He could not forget his old Peninsular habits. 

In this war the Russians have hitherto exhibited a great 
inferiority in their conduct to that which they displayed in 
their campaigns from 1807 to 1812, when they fought the 
battles of Eylau and Borodino against Napoleon. The po- 
sition of Alma must have been much stronger than that of 
Borodino, and yet how much more stoutly the latter was 
defended than the former. Then their having allowed the 
allies to land without molestation is inconceivable, and there 
is no doubt that they might have attacked Raglan with 
great effect as he emerged from the wood on his march to 
Balaklava, but all these opportunities they entirely neglected. 
I expect, however, that they will make a vigorous defence at 
Sebastopol, and that the place will not be taken without a 
bloody struggle and great loss of life. 

Within the last few days a very important question has 
arisen, the decision of which is a very difficult matter. It 
has been found that the commerce of Russia has not been 
materially diminished, as their great staples (hemp, etc.) have 
passed regularly through the Prussian ports, being brought 
tliere by land, and it is now desired to devise some means of 
putting an end to this exportation. Clarendon has written 



1854.] RUSSIAN TRADE. 167 

to Reeve about it, and Granville has obtained returns of the 
amount of hemp and linseed imported from Russia in past 
years and in the present, from which it appears that though 
there is a diminution it is not a very considerable one. The 
effect produced is only the inevitable consequence of the 
policy that was adopted deliberately and after great consid- 
eration at the beginning of the war ; and how that policy is 
to be adhered to, and the consequences complained of pre- 
vented, is the problem to be solved. A blockade of the Prus- 
sian ports in the Baltic has been suggested — a measure, as it 
seems to me, very questionable in point of right and political 
morality, and certain to be attended by the most momentous 
consequences. Such a measure may not be without prece- 
dent, or something resembling precedent ; but no Power with 
anything like self-respect or pride could tamely submit to 
such an outrage and such an insult, and as it would certainly 
afford a casus belli, Prussia could hardly, without abandon- 
ing all claim to be considered a great Power, abstain from 
declaring war instanter ; and, whatever may be the senti- 
ments of the Prussian nation and of the Germans generally 
with regard to Russia, it is by no means unlikely that such 
an arbitrary and imperious proceeding would enlist the sym- 
pathies and the passions of all Germans without exception 
in opposition to us, and to France if she became a party 
to it. 

Newmarhet. — Granville told me on Saturday morning 
that he was much alarmed at the disposition evinced by John 
Russell, and he expects an explosion sooner or later. 

London, Octoher 30fh. — I returned last night and found 
a meeting of the Committee of Council settled for to-day, to 
consider the question of stopping Russian trade. Wilson has 
drawn up a paper in which he discusses the various modes 
of accomplishing this object, and recommends that the 
Queen should forbid all trade with Russia, and prohibit the 
importation of Russian produce, and require certificates of 
origin for tallow, hemp, etc. John Russell writes word that 
he cannot attend the meeting, but is ready, though reluct- 
ant, to vote for Wilson's proposal. Granville and Cardwell 
are both dead against it, after a discussion at the Council 
Office at which the majority were against the proposal. 

November 4th. — At The Grove from Wednesday to Satur- 
day ; the Walewskis, Lavradios, Granvilles, Azeglio, and 
Panizzi were there, a pleasant party enough. Walewski 



168 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

told me a curious thing which he said he knew to be true. 
We were talking of Nesselrode, and I asked if he knew what 
his present i^osition was with the Emporor. He said he 
had been out of favor, but latterly had resumed all his influ- 
ence and was very well at Court ; that although in the be- 
ginning of the quarrel he had done his best to moderate the 
Emperor and to preserve peace, it was nevertheless true that 
he was perhaps the immediate cause of the war, which had 
turned upon the acceptance or refusal of the Turkish modi- 
fications of the Vienna Note ; that when they arrived the 
Emperor was inclined to accept them, and that Nessel- 
rode dissuaded him from doing so, advising him to ad- 
here to the unaltered Note, not to listen to the modifications, 
and insisting that, if he did so, the allies would compel the 
Turks to waive their demands and to accept the Note in its 
original shape. Walewski also said that the Emperor was 
exceedingly incensed when the fatal circular, which made 
the Vienna Note an impossibility, was published. He said 
it was never intended for publication, and he found great 
fault with the document itself, insisted on knowing by whom 
it had been composed, and ordered the author to be brought 
before him. The man (whose name I forget) was not to be 
found, and events which pressed on drove it out of His Ma- 
jesty's mind. 

In the " Times" of yesterday appeared a very able letter 
of Bright's with his view of the war, and the faults com- 
mitted by our Government in respect to it, which letter as 
nearly as possible expresses my own opinion on the subject. 
I have never agreed with those who fancy that by mere blus- 
ter we might have averted the war, but I think by more 
firmness toward not only Eussia but toward Turkey, and 
still more toward the press and the public excitement here, 
together with a judicious employment of the resources of 
diplomacy, we might have prevented it. However, we are 
in for it, and I not only see no chance of getting soon out 
of it, but I do not feel the same confidence that everybody 
else does, that we are certain to carry it to a successful 
end. 

London, Novemler IMli. — At Worsley all last week ; noth- 
ing was thought of but the war, its events and vicissitudes. 
The tardiness of intelligence and the perplexity and agita- 
tion caused by vague reports and telegraphic messages drive 
everybody mad ; from excessive confidence, the public, al- 



1854.] SEBASTOPOL BESIEGED. 169 

ways nose-led by the newspapers, is fallen into a state of 
alarm and discouragement. There is no end to the mischief 
which tiie newspapers and their correspondents have done, 
are doing, and no doubt will continue to do. There does 
not seem at this moment more reason to doubt that we shall 
take Sebastopol than there ever was, but the obstinate de- 
fence of the Russians indicates that its capture will not be 
effected without a tremendous struggle and great sacrifice 
of life. On the other hand, the Russians, instead of despair- 
ing of being able to hold the place, are full of confidence that 
they will be able to protract their defence, till our losses, 
and still more the weather, will compel us to raise the siege, 
and then they expect to compel us to abandon the Crimea 
altogether, and to make our re-embarkation a dangerous 
and disastrous operation. It is to be hoped that such a 
calamitous result is not in store for us, but there is no dis- 
guising from ourselves tlmt we have got a much tougher and 
more difficult job on our hands than we ever contemplated, 
and that our success is by no means such a certainty as we 
have all along flattered ourselves that it would be ; for sup- 
posing we succeed in entering the place by storm, our work 
will then be not nearly done. Sebastopol is not invested, 
and when the Russian garrison finds itself no longer able to 
hold the place, there is nothing to prevent its evacuating it 
on the other side and effecting a junction with the main 
Russian army. We shall then have to reduce the forts on 
the northern side, to put the place in a state of defence, and 
commence afresh campaign against Menschikoff in the cen- 
tre of the Crimea. All this presents an endless succession 
of difficulties, demanding large supplies and resources of all 
sorts which it will be no easy matter to afford. We are 
now talking of sending every soldier we possess to the scene 
of action, and expending our military resources to the last 
drop, leaving everything else at home and abroad to take 
care of itself, a course which nothing but an extreme neces- 
sity can justify, while at the same time it can not be denied 
that having gone so far we can not stop halfway, and having 
committed so large a part of our gallant army in this un- 
equal contest, we are bound to make the greatest exertions 
and sacrifices to prevent their being overwhelmed by any 
serious disaster. But this very necessity only affords fresh 
ground for condemning the rashness with which we plunged 
into such a war and exposed ourselves to such enormous 
8 



170 REIGN OP QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

dangers, and incurred such large sacrifices for so inadequate 
an object. 

It is not very easy to ascertain what the feehng is in 
Eussia about the war, but there is reason to believe that the 
nobles are getting very sick of it, and are very discontented 
with the Emperor, not so much for having engaged in it as 
for the manner in which it has been carried on. At St. 
Petersburg there prevails an intense hostility to us, and 
great wrath against Austria, and instead of yielding, or any 
thought of it, the notion is that they mean to redouble their 
eiforts next year, and bring into the field far greater forces 
than they have yet done. I perceive that the question of the 
disposal of the Crimea (when we get it) is still undecided. 
Some fancy that we ought to hold it, as a great advantage 
to have the power of offering it back to Eussia when the 
question of peace arises. I am more inclined to the other 
view, of destroying the place, and if possible the harbor, 
and, after carrying off or destroying all the ships, to abandon 
the peninsula and leave the Eussians to reoccupy it if they 
please. This would be very consistent with the object with 
which the war was professedly undertaken, and the Crimea, 
without Sebastopol and without a fleet, would be no longer 
formidable to Turkey for many a year to come ; but no doubt 
there would be difficulty in this as in any arrangement, and 
much difference of opinion, not unlikely to produce dissen- 
sion, among our allies and ourselves. There is good reason to 
believe that our late naval attack on the forts was a blunder, 
and that it did no good whatever. If Lyons had been in 
command, he probably would have declined to make it, and 
he could have ventured to exercise his own discretion, which 
Dundas could not. Then it was very badly arranged, and 
this was the fault of the French Admiral, who at the last 
moment insisted on altering the plan of attack, and (con- 
trary to the advice of all his officers) Dundas gave way to 
him. In this, however, it is not fair to blame the English 
Admiral, who may have acted wisely ; for his position was 
delicate and difficult, and he had to consider the alliance of 
the countries and the harmonious action of the two fleets, as 
well as the particular operation. 

Novemher lAth. — Yesterday morning we received tele- 
graphic news of another battle, from which we may expect 
a long list of killed and wounded. The affair of the 25th, 
in which our light cavalry was cut to pieces, seems to have 



1854.] -BALAKLAVA. 171 

been the result of mismanagement in some quarter, and the 
blame must attach either to Lucan, Cardigan, Captain Nolan 
who was killed, or to Raglan himself. Perhaps nobody is 
really to blame, but, if any one be, my own impression is that 
it is Eaglan. He wrote the order, and it was his business to 
make it so clear that it could not be mistaken, and to give 
it conditionally, or with such discretionary powers as should 
prevent its being vigorously enforced under circumstances 
which he could not foresee, or of which he might have no 
cognizance. 

It is evidently the plan of the Russians to wear out the 
allied armies by incessant attacks and a prolonged defence, 
sacrificing enormous numbers of men which they can afford, 
but considering that they gain on the whole by the dispro- 
portionate, but still considerable, losses they inflict upon us. 
It is quite on the cards, if they can keep up the spirit of 
their men, who show great bravery though they cannot stand 
against our's, that they may cunctando restituere rem, and 
compel us at last to raise the siege, and at St. Petersburg 
they are very confident of this result. Here, though people 
are no longer so confident and elated as they were, no human 
being doubts of our ultimately taking the town. 

Yesterday we had rather an amusing scene in the Court 
of Exchequer at the nomination of sheriffs, which does not 
often supply anything lively. The Head of Cains College, 
Cambridge, and this year Vice-Chancellor, was on the list, 
and Judge Alderson vehemently protested against his remain- 
ing there. A long discussion ensued, in which almost every- 
body took part, whether his name should be kept on or not, 
and if he should be struck off the roll. At last Alderson 
moved he should be struck off, to which somebody moved as 
an amendment (a course I suggested) that he should be omit- 
ted, but not struck off. It was to be put to the vote, when 
I asked if Alderson himself could vote, whether it was not 
a meeting of the Privy Council, at which the judges attended 
to give in names for sheriffs, and that Privy Councillors only 
could vote as to the choice of them. Alderson vehemently 
denied this view, and asserted that it was no meeting of the 
Privy Council, the proof of which was that the Chancellor of 
the Exchequer took precedence of the Lord President, and 
that the puisne judges had a right to vote. They then de- 
sired to see the Act of Richard II., which the Chancellor ex- 
amined and read out, and afterward he gave it as his opinion 



172 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

that the Judges could vote, and this opinion was acquiesced 
in by the rest. Ultimately they all agreed, Alderson in- 
cluded, to accept the course 1 had proposed, and the Doc- 
tor's name was omitted from the list, but not struck off the 
roll. 

Navemler 15th. — The Duke of Bedford tells me that Lord 
John is in a better frame of mind than was apprehended not 
long ago, by no means satisfied with his own situation, and 
complaining of much that appertains to the Government, but 
conscious that his position can not be altered at present, and 
not at all disposed by any captious conduct to break up or 
endanger the Government itself. With regard to Eeform 
he is extremely reasonable, feeling the difficulty of his own 
antecedents in regard to the question ; he is ready to conform 
himself to the necessities of the case, and does not think of 
urging anything unreasonable and impracticable. He is 
naturally enough very anxioiis that the Government should 
manage their affairs in Parliament better this year than last, 
and not expose themselves to so many defeats and the mor- 
tification of having their measures rejected or sj)oilt, and his 
notion seems to be that they should introduce and announce 
fewer measures, only such as are urgent and generally de- 
sired, and such as they may reasonably expect to carry, and, 
having taken that course, to stand or fall by them ; this is 
the wisest and most becoming course, and I hope it will be 
adhered to and succeed. Its success depends very much on 
Lord John's own conduct, and the way in which he treats 
the Whig and Liberal party. I hear nothing of the inten- 
tions and expectations of the Opposition, but Lyndhurst 
tells me he considers them extinct as a party and in no con- 
dition to get into power. He spoke very disparagingly of 
Disraeli, and said his want of character was fatal to him, 
and weighed down all his cleverness. 

Noveniber IQfh. — A telegraphic despatch arrived from 
Eaglan with account of the battle of the 5th, ^ from which 
we learn only that we were entirely successful in repulsing 
the Russian attack, but that our loss was very great. An- 
other long interval of suspense to be succeeded by woe and 
mourning ; but besides the private misery we have to wit- 
ness, the aggregate of the news fills me with the most dismal 
forebodings. Eaglan says the Eussian force was even greater 

1 [The battle of Inkerman was fought on November 5.] 



1S54.] BATTLE OF INKERMAN. 173 

than at Alma, and vastly superior to his own. Menschikoff 
says that he is assembling all his forces, and preparing to 
take the offensive, that their numbers are very superior, and 
he confidently announces that lie shall wear us out, and that 
our army cannot escape him. I do not see how the siege is 
to be continued by an army itself besieged by a superior 
force and placed between two fires. The reinforcements 
cannot possibly arrive in time, and even if they were all 
there now, they would not be sufficient to redress the bal- 
ance. I dread some great disaster which would be besides a 
great disgrace. Whether every exertion possible has been 
made here to reinforce Raglan, or whether anything more 
could have been done, I cannot pretend to say ; but if mat- 
ters turn out ill there will be a tine clamor, and principally 
from those rash and impatient idiots who were so full of 
misplaced confidence, and who insisted on precipitating our 
armies on the Crimea, and on any and every ])art of the Rus- 
sian territory, without knowing anything of the adequacy of 
our means for such a contest. To overrate the strength and 
power of the allies, and to underrate that of Russia on her 
own territory, has been the fault and folly of the English 
public, and if they find themselves deceived in their calcula- 
tions and disappointed in their expectations, their rage and 
fury will know no bounds, and be lavislied on everybody but 
themselves. In the height of arrogance few exceptions were 
found to those who imagined it would be quite easy to crum- 
ple up Russia, and reduce her to accept such terms as we 
might choose to impose upon her. All the examples which 
history furnishes were disregarded, and a general belief pre- 
vailed that Russia would be unable to oppose any effectual 
or prolonged resistance to our forces combined. When the 
successes of the Turks at the beginning of the war became 
known, this confidence not unnaturally became confirmed, 
and boundless was the contempt with which the Russians 
were treated ; and the bare idea of granting peace to the 
Emperor except on the most ruinous and humiliating terms 
was scouted. We now see what sort of a fight the Russians 
can make ; and though the superhuman valor and conduct 
of our troops still inspire confidence and forbid despair, it is 
evident that we have rashly embarked in a contest which 
from the nature of it must be an unequal one, and that we 
are placed in a position of enormous difficulty and danger. 
November 23d— Last week at Savernake and at The 



174 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. YII. 

Grange ; came back on Tuesday ; and yesterday morning 
arrived the despatches with an account of the furious battle 
of Inkerman, in which, according to Eaglan's account, 8,000 
English and 6,000 French resisted the attack of 60,000 Eus- 
sians, and eventually defeated and drove them back with 
enormous loss, our own loss being very great. The accounts 
of Eaglan and Canrobert do not quite agree as to the num- 
bers engaged, but, admitting that there may be some exag- 
geration in the estimate of the numbers of the Eussians and 
of their loss, it still remains one of the most wonderful feats 
of arms that was ever displayed ; and, gallantly as our troops 
have always behaved, it may be doubted if they ever evinced 
such constancy and heroism as on this occasion — certainly 
never greater. My brother lost his youngest and favorite 
son in this battle — a boy of 18, who had only landed in the 
Crimea a few weeks before, and who was in a great battle 
for the first and last time. This is only one of innumerable 
instances of the same kind, and half England is in mourn- 
ing. It is dreadful to see the misery and grief in which so 
many are already plunged, and the universal terror and agi- 
tation which beset all who have relations engaged in the war. 
But the nation is not only as warlike as ever, but if possible 
more full of ardor and enthusiasm, and thinking of nothing 
but the most lavish expenditure of men and money to carry 
on the war ; the blood that has been shed appears only to 
animate the people, and to urge them to fresh exertions. 
This is so far natural that I, hating the war, feel as strongly 
as anybody that, now we are in it, and our soldiers placed in 
great jeopardy and peril, it is indispensable to make every 
possible exertion to relieve them ; and I am therefore anx- 
ious for ample reinforcements being sent out to them, that 
they may not be crushed by overwhelming force. 

In reading the various and innumerable narratives of 
the battle, and the comments of the " correspondents," it is 
impossible to avoid coming to some conclusions which may 
nevertheless be erroneous ; and I have always thought that 
people who are totally ignorant of military matters, and 
who are living at ease at home, should not venture to criti- 
cise operations of which they can be no judges, and the con- 
duct of men who cannot explain that conduct, and who are 
nobly doing their duty according to their own judgment, 
which is more likely to be right than any opinions we can 
form. With this admission of fallibility, it still strikes me 



1854.] PARLIAMENT SUMMONED. 175 

that there was a lack of military genius and foresight in the 
recent operations. It is asserted that our position was open 
and undefended, that General Evans had recommended that 
precautions should be taken and defences thrown up, all of 
which was neglected, and nothing done, and hence the sad 
slaughter which took place. This was Raglan's fault, if any 
fault there really was. It is admitted that no tactical skill 
was or could be displayed, and the battle was won by sheer 
courage and firmness. Then Cathcart seems to have made 
a false and very rash move which cost his own life and 500 
men besides. These are melancholy reflexions, and the facts 
prove that we have no Wellingtons in our army now. 

November 2Qth. — Government have determined to call Par- 
liament together on the 13th of December, though it stands 
prorogued to the 14th. This is done under the authority of 
an Act, 37th George III. ch. 120. In the present state of 
affairs they are quite right, and it is better for them to have 
fair Parliamentary discussion than clamor and the diatribes 
of the press out of doors. The "■ Times,"' as usual, has been 
thundering away about reinforcements, and urging the 
despatch of troops that do not exist and cannot be created 
in a moment. I had a great battle with Delane the other 
day about it, and asked why he did not appeal to the French 
Government, who have boundless military resources, instead 
of to our's who have none at all, and accordingly yesterday 
there was a very strong article entirely about French re- 
inforcements. 

In the course of our talk he did, I must confess, make 
some strong charges against the Government, and particu- 
larly Newcastle. He complained that after the expedition 
was sent to the Crimea they remained idle, and made no at- 
tempt to form an army of reserve or to send continual re- 
inforcements to supply the casualties which everybody knew 
must occur, and this is true. Again, when he returned from 
the East^ he went to Newcastle and urged him to make an 
immediate provision of wooden houses against the winter, 
which would in all probability be required, and he suggested 
that this should be done at Constantinople, where, all the 
houses being built of wood and the carpenters very skilful, 
it might easily be done at a comparatively small expense, 
and whence the conveyance was expeditious and cheap. His 

1 [Mr. Delane had grone to the theatre of war in the autumn, and was there 
with Mr. Kinglake, the brilliant historian of the Crimean War.] 



176 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

advice was not taken ; nothing was done, and now that the 
winter is come, and the troops are ah^eady exposed to dread- 
ful suffering and privation, the work is begun here, where 
it will cost four times as much and, when done, will require 
an enormous time to convey the houses to the Crimea, be- 
sides taking up the space that is urgently required for other 
purposes. I was obliged to confess that this was inexcusable 
negligence and blundering, and I repeated what had passed 
to Granville last night, who could make no defence, and 
only said that Newcastle, with many merits, had the fault 
of wishing to do everything himself, and therefore much 
was not done at all ; and that the fact was, nobody ever 
imagined we should be reduced to such straits, and there 
was a universal belief that all would have been over in the 
Crimea before this, and that such things would not be re- 
quired. I am afraid Newcastle, who is totally ignorant of 
military affairs of every sort, is not equal to his post, and 
hence the various deficiences ; nor is Sidney Herbert much 
better — very well both of them in ordinary times, but with- 
out the ability or the resource necessary to deal with such 
an emergency as the present. 

I saw a letter yesterday from Charles Windham; a Q.-M.- 
General on poor Cathcart's staff, with an account of the 
battle, and he says that if, directly after the march on 
Balaklava, Sebastopol had been assaulted, it must have been 
taken. This corresponds with the reports of Eussian de- 
serters, who declare that there were only 2,000 men in the 
place after the battle of Alma. There is always so much 
difference of opinion and fault finding in such affairs that it 
is not easy to come to a sound conclusion thereupon. 

November 29/^7^. — My surviving nephew arrived from the 
Crimea yesterday morning. He gave me an account of the 
battle, and denies that General Cathcart ever refused, or 
was ever offered, the aid of General Bosquet, as has been 
stated. He says that Cathcart was not in command, and it 
was not therefore to him that the offer would have been 
made, and that Cathcart did not go into action till he was 
sent for by General Pennefather, when he got his Division 
out, and went on the field. He was killed quite early, about 
twenty minutes after he reached the field of battle. My 
nephew confirms what has been said about the non-fortifica- 
tion of the position, which seems to have been an enormous 
blunder, against which most of the Generals of Division 



1854.] LORD RAGLAN AS A GENERAL. 177 

remonstrated. He says Cathcart was opposed to the expe- 
dition to the Crimea, not thinking they were strong enough, 
and he strongly advised, and in opposition to Eaglan, that 
the place should be attacked immediately after the battle of 
Alma, 'while the Eussians were still panic struck, and before 
they had time to fortify the town on the south side. He 
says he left the army in good health and spirits, but not ex- 
pecting to take Sebastopol this year. Their sufferings had 
not been very great, though it was a hard life — plenty to 
eat, but mostly salt meat. He thinks, though the French 
behaved very gallantly and their arrival saved the army, 
that they might have done more than they did ; and a body 
of them that came late on the held actually never stirred 
and did nothing whatever. 

In the evening I met Clarendon at the Travellers', and 
had a long talk with him about all sorts of things. He has 
been much disturbed at the "Times," especially as to two 
things — its violent abuse of Austria and its insertion of a 
letter from the Crimea, reflecting severely on Prince Napo- 
leon. With regard to Austria it is peculiarly annoying, be- 
cause we are now on the point of concluding a tripartite 
Treaty which is actually on its way to Vienna, and in a day 
or two it will be decided whether she signs it or not ; and 
nothing is more calculated to make her hang back than 
such articles in the "Times." Then as to Prince Napo- 
leon, it has annoyed the Emperor and all his family beyond 
expression, and to such a degree that Drouyn de Lhuys has 
written an official letter to Walewski abont it — a very proper 
and reasonable letter, but still expressing their vexation, and 
entreating that such attacks may, if possible, be prevented 
for the future. 

We talked over Lord Raglan and his capacity for com- 
mand, and we both agreed that he had given no proofs of 
his fitness for so mighty a task. Clarendon said he was 
struck with the badness of his private letters, as he had been 
from the beginning by those from Varna, showing that he 
had evidently not a spark of imagination, and no originality. 
We both agreed that it would never do to hint adonlat about 
his merits or capacity, and at all events that he is probably 
equal to anybody likely to be opposed to him. His personal 
bravery is conspicuous, and he exposes himself more than he 
ought. It is said that one of his aides-de-camp remon- 
strated with him and received a severe rebuff, Eaglan telling 



178 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VH. 

him to mind his own business, and if he did not like the fire 
to go to the rear. Clarendon says there is no chance of tak- 
ing Sebastopol this year, nor of taking it at all till we have 
an army strong enough to drive the Eussians out of the 
Crimea. For this, 150,000 men would be required to' make 
it a certainty ; but with this force, no Eussian army, how- 
ever numerous, could resist the allies, and then the place 
would fall. This is a distant prospect. I expressed my 
wonder at the Eussians being able to obtain supplies, and he 
said they got them from the Don and from Kertch. 

December 5th. — I was at Middleton on Saturday and re- 
turned yesterday. There I saw a letter from Stafford, who 
is at Constantinople tending the sick and wounded, writing 
for and reading to them, and doing all the good he can— a 
very wise and benevolent way of re-establishing his reputa- 
tion and making his misdeeds at the Admiralty forgotten.^ 
He says he had heard so much of the sufferings and priva- 
tions of the soldiers, and of the bad state of the hospitals, 
that he resolved to go there and judge for himself of the 
truth of all that had been written and asserted on the sub- 
ject ; that he did so, and found the very worst accounts 
exceeded by the reality, and that nothing could be more 
frightful and appalling than it all was. It had greatly im- 
proved, but still was bad enough. The accounts published 
in the " Times," therefore, turn out to be true, and all the 
aid that private charity could supply was no more than was 
needed. I believe there has been no lack of zeal and hu- 
manity here, but a great deal of ignorance and inexperience, 
and, above all, culpable negligence on the part of Lord 
Stratford, who had carte ilanche from the Government as 
to expense, and who, after having done his best to plunge us 
into this war, might at least have given his time and atten- 
tion to provide relief for the victims of it ; but it seems that 
from some fit of ill-temper he has chosen to do nothing, and 
evinced nothing but indifference to the war itself and all its 
incidents ever since it broke out. This I am assured is the 
case. His wife has been very active and humane, and done 
all she could to assist Miss Nightingale in her mission of 

1 [Mr. AuGfUstus Stafford had been Secretary to the Admiralty under Lord 
Derby's first Administration, where he was supposed not to have done well ; 
but when the accounts arrived of the sufferings and privations of the army in 
the dreadful winter of 1854-'55, Mr. Stafford was one of the first persons to go 
out and endeavor to relieve the deplorable condition ot the troops.] 



1854.] THE AUSTRIAN TREATY. 179 

benevolence and charity. But to return to Stafford's letter. 
He says that while nothing could exceed the heroism of our 
soldiers, the incapacity of their chiefs was equally conspicu- 
ous, and that the troops had no confidence in their leaders ; 
he adds, it is essential to give them a good general if the 
war goes on. This, and much more that I have heard, con- 
firms the previous impression on my mind that Eaglan is 
destitute of military genius or skill, and quite unequal to 
the command of a great army. It does not appear, however, 
that the enemy are better off' than we are in this resj^ect, and 
we do not know that in England a better general would now 
be found. The man, Stafford says, in whom the army seem 
to have the greatest confidence is Sir Colin Campbell. All 
this is very serious, and does not tend to inspire a great ex- 
pectation of glorious results. From what Clarendon said to 
me it is evident that he does not think much of Eaglan, but 
it would never do to express any doubt of his ability or of 
his measures in public. Delane told me yesterday that he 
had received letters without end in this sense, and that he 
entertained the same doubts that I did, but should take care 
not to give utterance to them in the " Times." This reserve 
is the more necessary and even just because, after all, the 
opinions may not be well founded ; and, as it is impossible 
to change the command, it is very desirable not to weaken 
the authority and self-confidence of the General by casting 
doubts upon his conduct of the war. 

December 11th. — For the last week the Austrian Treaty 
has occupied everybody's thoughts, though, as the exact 
terms of it are not yet known, people do not very well know 
what to expect from it. The great question that lies behind 
it is, whether Prussia will follow in the wake of Austria, and 
the rest of Germany with her. If all Germany joins the 
Allies it seems absolutely impossible that Eussia should offer 
any effectual resistance to such a combination of forces ; and 
it will then be to be seen what impression can be made on an 
Empire which, with many political deficiencies, nature has 
made so strong for defensive purposes, and, if the contest 
continues, whether the opinions and object of the Allies will 
not diverge and ultimately break up the alliance. 

Bright has published his letter in a penny form (or some- 
body has done it for him) with pieces justificatives extracted 
from the Blue Books and from other sources, and in my 
opinion he makes out a capital and unanswerable case. He 



180 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOKIA. [Chap. VIL 

does not, indeed, prove, nor attempt to proye, that the Em- 
peror of Eussia is in the right absolutely, bat he makes out 
that he is in the right as against England and Erance, and 
he shows up the conduct of the Western Powers very success- 
fully. But in the present temper of the country, and while 
the war fever is still raging with undiminished violence, all 
appeals to truth and reason will be totally unavailing. Those 
who entertain such opinions either wholly or in part do not 
dare to avow them, and all are hurried along in the vortex. 
I do not dare to avow them myself ; and even for holding my 
tongue, and because I do not join in the senseless clamor 
which everywhere resounds, I am called ''a Eussian." The 
progress of the contest has changed the nature of public 
^opinion, for now its principal motive is the deep interest 
taken in the success of our arms and the safety of the band 
of heroes who have been fighting in the Crimea. This is, 
of course, right and patriotic, and a feeling which must be 
common to those who have been against, and those who have 
been for the war. 

Panshanger, Decemher lUli. — The debates on Tuesday 
night were on the whole satisfactory, and not bad for the 
Government. Derby made a slashing, effective philippic on 
the text of " Too late," asserting that the fault of the Gov- 
ernment had been that they had done everything too late. 
Newcastle answered him, but was dull and feeble, totally 
unequal to meet Derby in debate. His case was not bad, 
but he could not handle it with efi:ect. Government did 
better in the Commons, where Sidney Herbert made a capi- 
tal speech, and produced a very good case in a very complete 
and satisfactory manner. He proved that reinforcements 
had been sent out month after month, and that they had 
never folded their hands and stood still as Derby charged 
them with having done. All the rage for the war which is 
apparent in the country was manifested in both Houses. 
According to present appearances, there will be very little 
done on the part of the Opposition against the Government 
during this short session. 

Decmnber Yltli. — These smooth appearances were deceit- 
ful, for the Government met with an unexpected and violent 
opposition to their Foreign Enlistment Bill, and only car- 
ried the second reading by a majority of 12. Ellenborough, 
puffed up with conceit and soured by disappointment and 
the nullity of his position, commenced a furious attack on 



1854.] THE FOREIGN ENLISTMENT BILL. 181 

this bill in an able speech replete with bitterness and sar- 
casm. Derby, too happy to join in any mischief, brought 
tiie support or his party, and a debate ensued, in which, as 
usual, the speaking of Ellenborough and Derby gave them 
the advantage, but the Government got a majority enough 
for their purpose. The bill itself is very unpopular, nobody 
can tell why, except that all sorts of misrepresentations were 
made about it the first night, and people have not yet been 
undeceived. I doubt if it was worth while to bring in such 
a bill, but it is certain if they had not done so, and imme- 
diately, they would have been furiously reproached by those 
who oppose them now, and above all accused of being "too 
late." The imprudent speech which John Eussell made 
about Austria tlie first night elicited a violent attack on him 
in the "Times," which is sure to have put him in very bad 
humor. The speech and the attack were equally unjustifi- 
able and mischievous. I have no idea why he said what he 
did, unless it was for the sake of appearing to fall in with 
the vulgar prejudice against Austria. 

December 18th. — The dislike of the Foreign Enlistment 
Bill is very general, but nobody can give any reason for their 
opposition to it.^ It is, however, so great that it is not cer- 
tain that it can be carried through the House of Commons, 
and so little is the Government cared for that I doubt many 
being found who will incur the resentment of their constitu- 
ents or give an unpopular vote to save them. If they should 
be beaten, I think they must go out. John Russell is in 
a bad disposition of mind, as may be gathered from his 
entourarje, who are in rabid opposition. Lord John, how- 
ever, will probably do what he can to make this measure go 
down, as I find he is himself the author of it ; but I much 
doubt if he would care for the Government being broken up, 
and he is not unlikely to regard such a catastrophe as the 
event best calculated to restore him to the post he so much 
covets. It is certainly possible that Derby, conscious he 
could not make a Government himself, would offer to sup- 
port the Whig section of this Cabinet with all the Peelites 
eliminated from it, and that an attempt might be made to 
form a Government with Lord John, Palmerston, and per- 

1 [The o!>ject of the Foreign Enlistment Bill was to enable the Government 
to enlist 15,000 foreigners in the British anny to be drilled in this country. It 
was denounced and opposed especially in the House of Lords as a dangerous 
and unconstitutional measure, but it eventually passed, and a considerable num- 
ber of Germans were enlisted under it.] 



182 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

haps Ellenborough. However, all this is vague speculation, 
and not worth following out. 

December 20th. — Government got a majority of 39, better 
than was expected. Lord John threatened to resign if he 
was beaten. The debate will not do them much good when 
it is read, nor serve to render their measure more popular. 
Everybody thinks the whole affair has been grossly misman- 
aged, and that, instead of making a mystery of their inten- 
tions, they ought to have thrown out such intimations of 
them as would have elicited public opinion ; but the truth 
is, not one of them had the least suspicion that the measure 
would meet with any resistance or even objection, nor would 
there have been any if Ellenborough had not started the 
hare, and then Derby and his party joyfully availed them- 
selves of the opportunity to do mischief, and joined in the 
cry. When the bill was announced, Derby never dreamt of 
opposing it. The arguments against the measure seem to 
me very plausible, except the constitutional one, which is all 
stuff, and in which none of those who urge it are sincere ; 
on the other hand, the former precedents do not apply in 
this case. The best argument for it is, that Eaglan wants 
trained men as soon as possible, and complains that they 
send nothing but boys, who are of little use at first, and who 
die in great numbers under the hardships and privations the 
climate and the operations inflict on them. Not only were 
the Government totally imconscious of the opposition they 
should encounter, but, when they found the steam was get- 
ting up, they neglected to enter into such explanations and 
make out such a case as might, if well done, have extin- 
guished dissension in the beginning. All this displays a 
want of prudence and foresight, for in a matter of such im- 
portance it is not enough to say that they did not expect any 
fault to be found with their proposal, and they ought to have 
employed some means to see what was likely to be thought 
of it before they committed themselves to it. They ought 
to have ascertained how it was to be carried into effect, and 
if they could count upon its success, and to be able to give 
Parliament some assurance of it, instead of saying they had 
taken no initiative steps out of affected deference to consti- 
tutional scruples, and knew not how they were to get the 
men they are asking for. It seems the general opinion of 
their own friends that they have mismanaged their case, and 
plunged into a difficulty they might have avoided. The best 



1864.] L0I:D RAGLAN'S DEFICIENCIES. 183 

way of avoiding it would have been to raise a regiment or 
two without applying to Parliament at all, mustered and 
arrayed them at Malta or at Heligoland, or wherever they 
pleased out of England, and sent them off as an experimenb 
to the Crimea. Then, if they had done good service, and 
Kaglan had expressed his satisfaction and asked for more, 
they might have raised any number and landed them here 
without cavil or objection ; but to have adopted this course 
they must have seen the necessity of feeling their way, which 
not one of them did. The great complaint now is the want 
of organisation and good arrangement in the Crimea, and 
generally at and about the seat of war, the confusion that 
has taken place in forwarding and distributing supplies, and 
the want of all expedients for facilitating the service in its 
various branches. There is much truth in all this, but the 
responsibility for it rests upon Raglan, who, if he had been 
of a prompt and energetic character, would have looked to 
these things, seen what was wanting, and have taken care to 
provide everything and set the necessary machinery in mo- 
tion. He had carte blanche from the Government as to 
money and everything else, and, if he had concerted what 
was necessary with Stratford, and insisted on his exerting 
himself, I believe none of the complaints would have been 
made, and none of the deficiencies have been found. This 
is what the Duke of Wellington would have done, and his 
despatches are full of proofs that it is what he was always 
doing. 

December 2Uh. — The third reading of the Enlistment Bill 
carried by 38, after a very fine speech from Bright, con- 
sisting of a part of his letter with its illustrations. In 
my opinion this speech was unanswerable, and no attempt 
was made to answer it. He was very severe on both Lord 
John and Palmerston. It is impossible that such reasoning 
as Bright's should not make some impression in the country ; 
but I do not think any reasoning however powerful, or any 
display of facts however striking, can stem the torrent of 
public opinion, which still clamors for war and is so burn- 
ing with hatred against Russia that no peace could be 
deemed satisfactory, or even tolerable, that did not humble 
Russia to the dust and strip her of some considerable 
territory. Yesterday the *' Times" ventured on an article 
against Raglan as the cause of the disorder and confusion 
and consequent privations which prevail in the army. 



184 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

Delane wrote to me about it, and said he was aware lie 
should be bitterly reviled for speaking these truths. I agree 
entirely with what he said, and see no reason why the saddle 
should not be put upon the right horse. 

Tlie Grove, December 31s?f, 1854. — The last day of one of 
the most melancholy and disastrous years I ever recollect. 
Almost everybody is in mourning, and grief and despair over- 
spread the land. At the beginning of the year we sent forth 
an army amidst a tumult of joyous and triumphant antici- 
pation, and everybody full of confidence and boasting and 
expecting to force the Emperor Nicholas in the shortest 
possible time humbly to sue for peace, and the only question 
was, what terms we should vouchsafe to grant him, and how 
much of his dominions we should leave him in possession 
of. Such presumptuous boasting and confidence have been 
signally humbled, and the end of this year sees us deploring 
the deaths of friends and relations without number, and our 
army perishing before the walls of Sebastopol, which we are 
unaijle to take, and, after bloody victories and prodigies of 
valor, the Eussian power hardly as yet diminished or im- 
paired. All last week I was at Hatchford with Lord Grey, 
when we did nothing but talk over the war, its management 
and mismanagement, Raglan, etc. Grey's criticisms are 
clever and not unfair, far from favorable to the Government, 
but detesting Derby, of whom he has the worst opinion, 
formed from a very ancient date and upon long experience 
of his character and conduct. Grey's idea is that there has 
been much mismanagement here and still greater on the spot, 
and that Raglan is quite incompetent and, as far as we can 
see, nobody else any better. The opinion about Raglan 
appears to be rapidly gaining ground, and the Ministers 
have arrived at the same conclusion. 

I came here yesterday to meet Cowley, come over for a 
few days from Paris, and to have a talk with him and 
Clarendon. Cowley says that the alliance between the two 
countries is very hollow, and in fact there is nobody in France 
really friendly to us except the Emperor, Persigny, and 
perhaps Drouyn de Lhuys. The Emperor is bent on pursu- 
ing the war with vigor, and is sensible of the importance to 
himself of the French flag being triumphant. I asked him 
what they thought of our armies and our generals ; he said 
from the Emperor downward they had the highest admira- 
tion for the wonderful bravery of the troops, but the greatest 



1854.] THE FRENCH ALLIANCE. 185 

contempt for the military skill of the commanders, and for 
all onr arrangements and savoir faire. He told its the follow- 
ing anecdote as a proof of the blundering way in which our 
aifairs arc conducted. Newcastle wrote to him lately to beg 
he would ask the French Government to give us a model of 
certain carts their army used in the Crimea, the like of which 
our people there had applied to him for. The French 
Minister replied that he covild give drawings, but had no 
model ; but at the same time he advised us not to think of 
having similar ones, as these carts are so ill adapted for the 
purpose that they had discarded them, and had ordered 
others and better ones to be made, which were now in course 
of construction at Malta. So that we propose to get these 
machines without finding out whether they are suitable or 
not, while the French supply themselves with the proper 
article m our oion territory. 

I find from Clarendon that he is not only fully alive to 
Kaglan's inefficiency, but has all along suspected it, and now 
the Government seem to have the same conviction; still they 
can take no step in the matter, for he has done nothing and 
omitted nothing so flagrantly as to call for or justify his re- 
call, and if they were to recall him they do not know where 
to look for a better man to replace him. The .war has hith- 
erto failed to elicit any remarkable abilities or special apti- 
tude for war, except in one instance, that of Captain Butler, 
the defender of Silistria, a young man of remarkable promise 
who, if he had lived, would probably have done great things 
and have risen to distinction. 

Canrobert writes to his Government that he hopes soon 
to attempt the assault, but the Emperor and M. Vaillant by 
no means approve of it, and have sent him orders not actually 
prohibiting it, but enjoining caution in such a manner as 
will most probably effectually deter him from doing any- 
thing. They all think that the capture of the place could 
only be achieved (if at all) at a great cost of life, and that 
the captors could not hold it for many hours, as they would 
be pounded from the Northern forts which entirely command 
the place. 

We discussed Austria and what she will do when the 
Russian answer comes to the last communication of the Con- 
ference at Vienna, and what she can do. Even if she recalls 
her ambassador from St. Petersburg and declares war, Cowley 
thinks she will never cross bayonets with the Russians or fire 



186 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. 

a shot unless attacked ; and he believes, on what appear good 
grounds, that if any fighting takes place between the Aus- 
trians and the Eussians, the former will get beaten, and that 
the Russian army is much the best of the two. This is the 
reverse of the general notion, but it seems that the Austrian 
officers themselves are of that opinion. It is no wonder, 
therefore, that they have no mind to go to war and to en- 
counter this danger to accommodate us, whom they still cor- 
dially hate on many accounts, but especially for the Haynau 
affair, which still rankles in their hearts and in which they 
think their uniform was insulted. A propos of this. Clarendon 
told me that the Queen was talking to him very lately about 
this affair, and told him that she had entreated Palmerston 
at the time to write some expression of regret to the Austrian 
Government, but that nothing would induce him to do it, 
and he never did. 

I asked Clarendon what was Palmerston's present tone 
about the war. He said he was very uneasy about the army 
and its condition, but Just as confident as ever as to the final 
result of the war, and as lofty in his ideas of the terms of 
peace we should exact from Russia. He is all for restoring 
the Crimea to Turkey, and, what is more, he has persuaded 
the Emperor Napoleon to embrace that opinion. As usual, 
he never sees any difficulty in anything he wishes to do. I 
told Cowley and Clarendon what Grey said — viz. that he 
agreed entirely with Bright's letter, and that the war might 
have been avoided by either of the two courses — to have told 
the Emperor of Russia in the beginning we would make war 
on him if he persisted, and compelled to understand that 
we really meant it, or to have forced the Turks to accept 
the Vienna Note ; and, in either case, war would have been 
avoided, but that the Cabinet itself being divided, every- 
thing was done in a spirit of compromise, and a middle 
course adopted which led to all the mischief. Cowley an- 
swered the first alternative and Clarendon the second. Cow- 
ley said that one of the great difficulties of the British Gov- 
ei-nment was to secure concert with the French, and to ex- 
plain their own conduct without hurting the susceptibility of 
their allies or divulging what passed between the two Gov- 
ernments. The French were perpetually blowing hot and 
cold, with a false air of vigor superior to our's at one mo- 
ment, and at another wanting to do what our Ministers 
would have been torn to pieces for consenting to. For in- 



1854,] NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE. 187 

stance, in spite of us they would send their fleet to the 
Dardanelles to support the Turks, and afterward they pro- 
posed to send the two fleets to Constantinople to compel the 
Sultan to sign the Vienna Note. Cowley told me this war 
in its present shape and with these vast armaments had gone 
on insensibly and from small beginnings, nobody could well 
tell how. In the first instance, the Emperor told Cowley 
he had no intention of sending any land forces to the East, 
and when we proposed to him to despatch there a small corps 
of 5,000 English and 10,000 French, he positively declined. 
Soon after Sir John Burgoyne was sent to examine and re- 
port on the state of the country and he gave an opinion that 
it would be desirable to send such a force to occupy a forti- 
fied position at Gallipoli in case of the Russians making a 
sudden attack with their fleet on Constantinople, in which 
case our fleets might be in some danger. Cowley took him 
to the Emperor, to whom he told his story. The Emperor 
said he thought his reasons good, and this was a definite and 
tangible object, and he would send the ft-oops. When Eag- 
lan was ofEered the command of the forces we were to send 
out, he said he would not go with less than 20,000 men ; 
and when we agreed to send this force, the French said if 
we sent 20,000 they must send 40,000, and so the expedition 
began, and it has since swelled to its present magnitude — 
our's in consequence of the clamor here and pressure from 
without, and their's to keep pace with our's in relative pro- 
portions. With regard to the Vienna Note, Clarendon said 
Stratford never would have let the Turks sign it, and if 
they had recalled him the Cabinet here would have been 
broken up, Palmerston would have gone out, Stratford 
would have come home frantic and have proclaimed to the 
whole country that the Turks had been sacrificed and be- 
trayed, and the uproar would have been so great that it 
would have been impossible to carry out the intention. I 
think the first answer is more weighty than the last, and 
that the popular clamor and Palmerston's secession ought to 
have been encountered at whatever hazard rather than per- 
sist in the fatal course which could hardly fail to lead, and 
did eventually lead, us into this deplorable war. 



188 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Lord Jo'hn''s Views on tlie Ministry — Gloomy Prospects — Attacks on Lord Eagkn — Bns- 
sian and Prussian Diplonaacy — Lord Paimerston more in favor — French "View o/the 
British Army — Russian Negotiations — Lord John Kussell in Paris — Conferei^e ;it 
Tiecna — Lord Kaglan unmoved — Terms ])roposed to Russia — Failure of the Doike of 
Newcastle — Hesitation of Austria and France — Deplorable State of the Afirmie^ — 
Chances of Peace — Meeting of Parliament — Fm-ther Negotiations — Lord John Ei/^ell 
resi^i*— Ministers stay in — The Debate on Koebuck's Motion — Kesignation o^n^^ord 
Abenjeen— Lord John Kussell's real AiadVes — Lord Derby sent for — and fails — Wise 
Decision of the Queen — Ministerial Na^tiations — Lord Palmerston sent for — ThePeel- 
ites reluse to join — Lord PalmerstorfTorms a Government — Lord Palmerston's Pms- 
f e t; — Lord John Eussell sent to Vienna — Lord Palmerston in the House of Com- 
mons — General Alarm — Difflcuities of Lord Palmerston — The Peelites secede— Lord 
John accepts the Oolonial Office — Sir George Lewis Chancellor of the Exchequer — • 
Death of the Emperor Nicholas of Eussia— Lord Palmerston supposed to be a weak 
Debater — Weakness of the Government — Fresh Arrangements — Tlie Budget — The 
Press. 

January 2d, 1855. — I received yesterday a letter from 
the Duke of Bedford relating to the views and position of 
Lord John Eussell. He had talked over his position with 
the Duke, disclaimed any wish to be again Prime Minister, 
but desired Lord Lansdowne should be in the post ; that he 
liked personally both Aberdeeruand Newcastle, but thought 
them unfit for the emergency. He had proposed that 
Palmerston should be War Minister but was overruled, and 
now (the Duke asks) what is he to do if a vote of censure on 
the management of the war is proposed in the House of 
Commons, thinking as he does that it has been mismanaged ? 
He would willingly break up this Government, which he 
really thinks a very bad one (what he wrote to Clarendon 
being his deliberate opinion), if he could see a chance of a 
better being substituted, and if h.e thought Derby could carry 
on the war more efficiently, which he does not. This letter 
is a complete reply to the objection Clarendon urged against 
Palmerston's being War Minister, for if Lord John himself 
wished it, nobody else could well object. He ought to have 
insisted on it, and, if he had, it must have been done. 

Nothing can wear a gloomier aspect than affairs do at 
home and abroad — the Government weak, unpopular, dis- 
pirited, and divided, the army in- the Crimea in a deplorable 
state, and the prospects of the war far from brilliant, no con- 
fidence in the commanding officers there, and no likelihood 
of finding more competent ones, everybody agreeing that till 
we have 150,000 men in the Crimea we cannot count on 
taking Sebastopol, and the difficulty of ever assembling such 
a force appearing very great. So far as I can collect, the 



1855.] CENSURES OF LORD RAGLAN. 189 

violent: articles which the "Times " emits day after day have 
excited general resentment and disgust. They overdo every- 
thing, and, while they are eternally changing their course, 
the one they follow for the moment they follow with an 
outrageous violence which shocks everybody. But as those 
who complain most of the " Times " still go on reading it, 
the paper only gets more rampant and insolent, for as long 
as its circulation is undiminished it does not care what any- 
body thinks or says of it. 

January 4/A. — I wrote the Duke an answer with my 
opinion on Lord John's position and obligations, which has 
elicited another from him this morning. He says that it was 
a few weeks ago that John made a formal proposal to Aber- 
deen that Palmerston should replace Newcastle at the War 
Department. Abej-deen desired time to consider, and then 
refused. Subsequently the matter was renewed, when Palm- 
erston himself objected, and then it necessarily ended. The 
Duke thinks that Lord John will not now stir it again, and 
will make up his mind to go on, and to defend his Govern- 
ment in the House of Commons. He consulted Sir George 
Grey, Lord Lansdowne, and Panmure, and they all advised 
him not to resign. It is strange that while this is imparted 
to me " very confidentially," and I had heard nothing of it 
before, it is currently reported, and stated positively in the 
" Morning Herald," that Lord John and others, mentioned 
bv name, have insisted on Newcastle's being turned out. 
That some part of what has occurred has got out is clear, 
and I incline to think that some of his satellites have set to 
work, and that, by way of assisting Lord John's object, they 
have given notice of what was going on to some of the Der- 
byites. There is a mysterious allusion to some impending 
event in the " Press " on Saturday last, which looks very 
like this. 

The ''Times" goes on against Eaglan with greater vehe- 
mence every day, and Avill not be restrained by any remon- 
strances. Evans has put himself in communication with 
Delane (though certainly having no hand in these attacks) 
and has sent him an account of his having addressed a letter 
to Canrobert many days before the battle of Inkerman for 
the purpose of getting hirn to assist in taking precautionary 
measures to resist the attack he was persuaded the Russians 
would make, and Canrobert's answer, in which he says that 
his means are curtailed by the necessity of providing for the 



190 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. 

defence of Balaklaya, and of extending his line and making 
dispositions ''dans I'interet de la situation commune/' but 
that he has ordered Bosquet to move nearer to Evans' divi- 
sion, and to be in readiness if anything should happen. 
There was a passage omitted in the printed letter of Evans 
to Raglan in which he alludes to the neglect of the precau- 
tionary measures he had recommended. 

Gortschakofl has declared the Emperor of Eussia will 
accept the first, second, and fourth articles of the four points, 
and will consider of the third. This may mean that he 
really wishes to make peace, or only be done for the sake of 
Austria, and to give her a pretext for not declaring against 
him. Clarendon is satisfied with Usedom, but not at all 
with his proposals. He says the King of Prussia has sent 
him to try and make a treaty with France and England en- 
tirely out of jealousy and mortification at Austria having 
made one, but he does not propose one similar to the Aus- 
trian Treaty, only a defensive one. Clarendon says the King 
in his heart hates Russia and winces under the influence he 
submits to, that he is indignant at the insults which have 
been heaped on him by his Imperial brother-in-law, and the 
contumely with which he has been treated, but, being physi- 
cally and politically a coward, he has not energy to shake off 
the yoke he has suffered to be imposed on him. 

Aldenham, January 6th. — I came here to-day. I saw 
Cowley yesterday, who has been to Windsor, and tells me 
that he finds by conversations he has had with Stockmar 
that the Queen is much softened toward Palmerston and no 
longer regards him with the extreme aversion she did. On 
the other hand, she is very angry with John Russell, and 
this is, of course, from knowing what he has been doing, and 
resentment at his embarrassing and probably breaking up 
the Government. This relaxation in her feelings toward 
Palmerston is very important at this moment, and presents 
the chance of an alternative which, if this Government fails, 
may save her from Derby and his crew, whom she cordially 
detests. I hear Newcastle is very low, as well he may be, 
for no man was ever placed in so painful a position, and it is 
one from which it is impossible for him to extricate himself. 
When the Government goes to pieces, as I am persuaded it 
will, the Queen is very likely to send for Palmerston, and he 
and Ellenborough, as War Minister, might make a Govern- 
ment that would probably stand during the war, and which 



1856.] CANROBERT'S OPINION OF BRITISH ARMY. 191 

in present circumstances the House of Commons and the 
country could not but support. My notion is that Lord 
John would not take any office, but would support Palmer- 
ston, and advise all his friends and followers to do so. I 
know no reason why Ellenborough should not act with any- 
body, and many of the present Government might stay in, 
and certain changes be made which would let in more Whigs, 
and so conciliate that party, while the Conservatives would 
abstain from supporting any Government which did not con- 
tain Aberdeen and Newcastle. Gladstone might be a diffi- 
culty ; Clarendon would be none, for he and Palmerston 
have pulled very well together, and I have no doubt Palmer- 
ston would be very happy to keep him. This opens a new 
prospect, and one very preferable to having Derby and his 
friends in office again. 

I asked Cowley about Canrobert's confidential letters to 
his Government on the state of our army of which I had 
heard. He said it was very true, and he had seen several of 
these letters, in which Canrobert said that nothing could 
exceed his admiration of the British soldiers, but he was 
convinced the army would disappear altogether, for their 
organization and management were deplorable ; and he en- 
treated his Government, if they possibly could, to interpose 
in the interest of the common cause to procure some ameli- 
oration of the organization, without which nothing could 
save the army from destruction. The Emperor, Cowley 
said, never mentioned our troops or commanders to him 
except in terms of respect and with expressions of his ad- 
miration, but he knew that to others he spoke in a very 
different tone, and said that our army was commanded by 
an old woman. 

January 12th. — I returned to town last night. The 
Emperor of Russia's acceptance of the four points, as inter- 
preted by us, of course excites hopes of peace, but I think 
few people are sanguine as to the result. It is suspected to 
be only a dodge to paralyze the action of Austria, but unless 
there was some secret concert with Austria, which is not 
likely, I cannot see what Russia is to gain by accepting 
conditions which she does not really mean to abide by. 
Such conduct could only deceive the Allies for a short time, 
and, as there is no question of any suspension of military 
operations, nothing would be gained in that respect, while 
as soon as some decisive test of the Emperor's sincerity was 



192 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. Vni. 

applied, his real meaning must be made manifest, and then 
not only wonld the acharnement of the Western Powers be 
increased, but it would be quite imjiossible for Austria not 
to join the Coalition, and to act yerily and indeed against 
Eussia. These reasons would induce me to put faith in the 
Kussian announcement ; on the other hand, it is barely 
credible that the Emperor should consent to the sacrifice of 
Sebastopol in the present state of the campaign, and with 
the almost certainty that we cannot take it for many months 
to come, if at all. 

John Russell is gone to Paris, not for any political object, 
but merely to see one of his wife's sisters ; but his journey 
there and conversations with the Emperor may not be with- 
out some consequences. I hear almost daily from the Duke 
of Bedford on the subject of John's conduct, the conduct of 
the war, and the state of the Goyernment. For the present 
he appears to desist from doing anything to make an explo- 
sion. The curious thing is that the public, and particularly 
the Derbyite, newspapers should be so well informed as they 
are of what is going on. Though the immediate danger of 
a break up seems to be over, I still think the animus Lord 
John exhibits, the manifold difficulties of the Government, 
and their undoubted though unjust unpopularity, will before 
long break them to pieces. 

January lith. — I met Clarendon last night and had a 
talk about affairs at home and abroad. John Eussell at 
Paris is satisfied with his couA'ersation with the Emperor, 
who agreed that we could make no peace but one which 
would be glorious for us. Clarendon does not believe the 
Emperor of Russia really means to sacrifice Sebastopol, and 
thinks when he sent his acceptance of the four points he was 
not apprised of what had passed in the Conference, which 
was merely verbal. Gortschakoff, in a passion, said, " I 
suppose you mean to limit our naval force, or to dismantle 
Sebastopol, or both ; " to which they replied, " Yes " ; but 
nothing was put in writing to this effect. This makes a 
great difference, but I do not despair. There is a great 
question about a negotiator, and the Queen and Prince want 
Clarendon himself to go. He refused point blank ; he does 
not like to leave it to Westmorland alone. I suggested Can- 
ning, but he thought Canning had not had experience 
enough, and that it ought to be a Cabinet Minister, and 
asked, ' ' Why not Palmerston ? " I objected the difficulty 



1855.] LOKD RAGLAN'S COMPOSURE. 193 

of relying on him, his hatred of Austria, and the terror he 
would inspire ; and I said Granville might do, but tliat I 
saw no reason why he should not go himself if he had reason 
to think it was likely to succeed, though I Avould not go 
merely to return re infectd. We then talked of Lord John 
and of Newcastle, lie said that Newcastle is exceedingly 
slow, and has a slow mind, but that there is no case what- 
ever for turning him out, and he cannot be blamed for the 
failures in matters of detail, and as for the great measures 
the responsibility belongs alike to all. Lord John never is 
and never will be satisfied without being again Prime Minis- 
ter, which is impossible. 1 said the Duke of Bedford as- 
sured me that his brother did not noio want to be Prime 
Minister. " What does he want then ? — to retire alto- 
gether ?" "Yes,'' said Clarendon, ''that is his intense self- 
ishness ; utterly regardless of the public interests, or of 
what may happen, he wants to relieve himself from the re- 
sponsibility of a situation which is not so good as he desires, 
and to run away from his post at a moment of danger and 
difficulty. If we had some great success — if Sebastopol were 
taken, for example — we should hear no more of his retire- 
ment." As matters are, however. Clarendon thinks very ill 
of them abroad and at home. This disposition of Lord 
John's keeps the Government in constant hot water, and 
no confidence can be placed in Raglan, while it is impossible 
to find anybody who would, as far as we can judge, do any 
better. 

The Court are exceedingly annoyed and alarmed at 
Eaglan's failure ; the Prince showed Clarendon (or told him 
of) a letter from Colonel Steele, who said that he had no idea 
how great a mind Raglan really had, but that he now saw 
it, for in the midst of distresses and difficulties of every kind 
in which the army was involved he was perfectly serene and 
undisturbed, and his health excellent ! Steele meant this 
as a panegyric, and did not see that it really conveyed a 
severe reproach. The conviction of his incapacity for so 
great a command gains ground every day ; he has failed in 
those qualities where everybody expected he would have suc- 
ceeded best, even those who thought nothing of his military 
genius. But, having learned what he knows of war under 
the Duke, he might at least have known how he carried on 
war, and have imitated his attention to minute details and a 
general supervision of the different services, seeing that all 

9 



194 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. 

was in order and tlie merely mechanical parts properly at- 
tended to on which so much of the efficiency as well as of 
the comfort of the army depended.^ 

January 19t7i. — We are still uncertain as to the real in- 
tentions of the Emperor of Russia, and whether he means 
to accept the terms offered by the Allies ; hut my own im- 
pression is that he will not accept them in cur sense, and that 
he never will consent to the sacrifice of Sehastopol till we 
have taken the place and destroyed the fortifications, thereby 
rendering its dismantling a fait accompli. There is cer- 
tainly nothing in the present state of our affairs which war- 
rants our lofty pretensions, and the proposal of terms so 
humiliating to the Emperor. The only possible grounds that 
can be imagined for his acceptance are, his own knowledge 
of the state of his own country and of the resources he can 
command for carrying on the war, and a dispassionate and 
farsighted calculation of the disposition and of the resources 
of his opponents. It is not impossible that he may foresee 
that he must eventually succumb in a contest so unequal and 
in which the number of his enemies increases every day. He 
may deem it better to make certain sacrifices now, with the 
view of being able before long to retrieve his losses, than to 
expose himself to the chance and great probability of being 
obliged to make much greater sacrifices hereafter, and such 
as it will be more difficult for him to repair. The Duke of 
Bedford tells me that Aberdeen and Clarendon are both 
hopeless of peace, and that Lord John and Palmerston do 
not consider it so absolutely hopeless ; Aberdeen says the 
negotiations will not last half an hour. 

The accounts from the army are as bad as possible ; 
one third of it is in the hospitals, and the quays of Balaklava 
are loaded with enormous stores of every kind, which it was 
impossible to transport to the camp. Very intelligent peo- 
ple therefore entertain the greatest apprehension of some 
catastrophe occurring whenever the severity of the winter, 
which has hitherto been comparatively mild, sets in. The 
best security is in the equally distressed state of the 
Russians, and in fact nothing but this can account for their 
having left us alone so long. 

1 [It may be proper to remark that a different and far more favorable view 
of Lord Eaglan's capacity as a General will be found in/ra at the beginning of 
Chapter XII. of this Journal, upon the evidence of Sir Edmund Lyons, who was 
entirely in the confidence of the Commander-in-Chief.] 



185o.] ILL CONDUCT OF TUE WAR. 195 

The Duke of Bedford and I talked over the state of af- 
fairs here, and the political possibilities in the event of this 
Government falling to pieces or being compelled to resign. 
We both desire any arrangement rather than another Derby 
Government, and we agree in thinking that on the whole the 
best would be for Lord Lansdowne to undertake the forma- 
tion of a Government, if ho can be persuaded to do so, which 
does not appear wholly impossible. This would satisfy Lord 
John, who would then remain in his present othce, half a 
dozen of the present Cabinet would go out, some Whigs 
might replace them, and the thing would undonbtedly go on 
for a time. It is impossible for Newcastle to continue to 
conduct the war, with the universal clamor there is against 
him and the opinion of his own colleagues (at least of such 
of them as I know the opinions of) that he is unfit for the 
post. He has two very great faults which are sufficient to 
disqualify him : he is exceedingly slow, and he knows noth- 
ing of the qualifications of other men, or how to provide 
himself with competent assistants ; nor has he any decision 
or foresight. He chose for his under-sccretaries two wholly 
incompetent men who have been of no use to him in manag- 
ing and expediting the various details of the service, and 
he has a rage for doing everything himself, by which means 
nothing is done, or done so tardily as to be of no use. Then 
all the subordinate Boards are miserably administered, and 
the various useless, inefficient, or worn out officers have been 
suffered to remain at their posts, to the enormous detriment 
of the service. The genius of Lord Chatham or the energy 
and will of the Duke of Wellington would have failed with 
such a general staff here, and with such a Commander-in- 
Chief as Hardinge, and with the fahieantise of Eaglan. 

January 20th. — It is only by degrees one can unravel the 
truth in political affairs. John Russell told me last night 
that Austria has never given in her adhesion to our condi- 
tion of making the destruction of Sebastopol a sine qua non 
of peace. She joins us in insisting on the "faire cesser la 
prepotence," but the means of accomplishing this remain to 
be discussed. This is very different from what I had imag- 
ined, and makes it anything but certain that she will join 
her forces to ours, if the negotiations fail in consequence of 
our demands. We are now endeavoring to bring the Court 
of Vienna into an agreement with us as to the conditions to 
be required, and it is no easy matter to get the Cabinet to 



196 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. YIII. 

agree upon the wording of the communications we make to 
her. This arises from the necessity of looking to the effect 
of what will appear in the Blue Books. Blue Books, Parlia- 
mentary discussions, and the Press tie up the hands of a 
Government, fetter its discretion and deliberate policy, and 
render diplomatic transactions (especially with Governments 
whose hands are more free) excessively difficult. Granville 
told me yesterday morning that the course of Eussia had been 
more straightforward than that of England and France, and 
this morning he reminded me of having said so, and added 
that we were in a great diplomatic mess, France always 
finessing and |)laying a game of her OAvn ; and I infer from 
what he said that, having got all she can out of us, she is 
now coquetting with Austria, and disposed to defer to her 
wishes and objects, and to be less exigeante toward Eussia. 
This is only of a piece with what Clarendon has often said 
to m_e about France and her way of dealing with us ; how- 
ever, if France will only insist on making peace on plausible 
terms, and with the semblance of its being an honorable and 
consistent peace, we cannot do otherwise than acquiesce in 
her determination, and if we only follow the lead she takes, 
the public here must needs be satisfied. This is Granville's 
own idea, as it is mine, and God grant that affairs may take 
this turn, and so we may get out of the tremendous scrape 
we are in, the escape from which will be cheaply purchased 
by the fall of the Government — a consequence that is almost 
certain if it does not happen before anything can be done. 

Day after day the accounts from the Crimea represent a 
more deplorable state of things, entirely confirmative of 
Canrobert's statements to his own Government, and it is 
difficult to read them and not apprehend some fatal catas- 
trophe. _ We know nothing of the state of the Eussians 
either within or without Sebastopol, and this ignorance is 
not one of the least remarkable circumstances in this war, 
but we must conclude either that their condition is as bad 
as ours and that they are unable to attack us, or that their 
policy is to let the winter do its work, and that they do not 
think it necessary for them to fight sanguinary battles with 
very doubtful results when disease is ravaging the allied army 
and producing effects as advantageous for them as the most 
complete victories could do, as surely, only more gradually. 

January 22d. — Every day one looks with anxiety to see 
and to hear whether the chances of peace look well or ill. 



1855.] ABORTIVE NEGOTIATIONS. 197 

and at present they look very ill. Clarendon seems to set 
his face against it — that is, he considers it hopeless ; and it 
is not promising that the negotiations should be under the 
management of one who has no hopes of bringing them to a 
successful issue, and whose despair of it evidently arises from 
his determination to exact conditions that there is no chance 
of obtaining. I hear, too, this morning, that the instructions 
to Bourqueney are to be as cxigeant as possible — not very wise 
pretensions anyhow, but they rather indicate the tone adopted 
by England than the real intentions of France, for it is one 
thing to make great demands and another to persist in them. 
It is, however, idle to speculate on the jDrogress of a negotia- 
tion which must be so largely influenced by the operations 
and events of the war. Parliament meets to-morrow, and I 
think a ^ry short tims will elapse before the fate _^ the 
Government is decided by some vote about the conduct of 
the war. I think the Government themselves desire it, and, 
conscious of the state of public opinion and of the deplorable 
state of affairs, and most of them thinking there has been 
great and fatal mismanagement, they wish the question to 
be decided, would not be sorry to be driven out by an ad- 
verse vote, and consider that it would be a better and more 
respectable way of ending than by those mternal di.ssensions, 
which, like a cancer, arc continually undermining them. 
John Russell sees nothing but difficulties in the formation 
of another Government of a Whig complexion including a 
large portion of the present Ministers, and says that he does 
not think Lord Lansdowne would, or that he or Palmerston 
could accomplish it. He means now to stand by his col- 
leagues, to accept his share of responsibility, and defend 
what has been done. / 

January 23d. — Parliament meets to-da/, and probably 
no time will be lost in attacking the Government, but it is 
impossible yet to know whether they will be harassed by a 
continual succession of skirmishes and bitter comments on 
details, or whether some grand and decisive assault will be 
made. The general impression is that the War Department 
cannot remain in Newcastle's hands, and if he cannot be got 
rid of without the whole Ministry going to pieces it must so 
end. I think this is pretty much the opinion of the Minis- 
ters themselves ; and though I believe they all, or most of 
them, personally like him, they seem, so far as I can see, to 
be agreed that he is unequal to his post. 



198 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. 

With regard to peace, the prospect looks anything but 
bright. The negotiations will not begin till we receive posi- 
tive information as to the meaning of the Emperor of Eussia 
in accepting the four points. Some weeks ago Clarendon 
wrote a despatch to Westmorland, in which he stated ex- 
plicitly the meaning we attached to the four points, but this 
has never been put ofl&cially before the Emperor, that we 
know of. Buol acquiesced, as I understood, in our explana- 
tion, but John Eussell distinctly told me that Austria had 
never signified her concurrence in making the demolition of 
Sebastopol a sine qua non condition. Now, however, some 
fresh communication has been made by Austria to Eussia, 
and we will not begin the negotiation until Austria shall 
have signified to us that the Emperor's acceptance is such as 
will warrant us in negotiating. I am not sufficiently ac- 
quainted with all the details to form a conclusive opinion, 
but, as far as I can see, we have been hanging off from being 
perfectly explicit, and have never yet come to a complete 
understanding with Austria, much less with Eussia, and I 
am afraid of our Ministers committing themselves in Parlia- 
ment by some declarations and professions of intentions 
which may make peace impossible and break up the negotia- 
tions at once, for as to Eussia consenting to dismantle Se- 
bastopol, I look upon it as impossible, and absurd to expect 
it. I earnestly hope that Bourqueney may be instructed to 
come to an understanding with Austria, and that, if we insist 
on terms impossible to obtain, our two Allies may compel us 
to give way, or leave us to fight the battle alone. The only 
thing quite certain is that we are in a state of the utmost 
doubt, danger, and perplexity at home and abroad, all of 
which is owing to our own egregious folly and unskilfulness, 
and the universal madness which has pervaded the nation. 

January 24?"//.— The Government is at an end, or at least 
it probably will be before the end of the day. The Duke of 
Bedford has just been to me to tell me that last night, after 
returning from the House of Commons, Lord John wrote a 
letter to Aberdeen to resign his office, and he will not attend 
the Cabinet to-day. Nobody knows it but Aberdeen hini- 
self, and I am not permitted to tell Granville even, but it 
will be announced to the Cabinet this morning. The imme- 
diate cause of Lord John's resignation is Eoebuck's motion, 
of which he gave notice last night, for a Committee to in- 
quire into the conduct of the war ; it is intended as a hostile 



1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL RESIGNS OFFICE. 199 

motion, and wonld have been turned into a Yote of censure 
and want of confidence. Besides this, it seems Hayter had 
told Lord John that the aspect of the House was bad, and 
members of the Government party disinclined to attend. 
Accordingly, he said he could not and would not face the 
motion ; Grraham and Sidney Herbert might defend the con- 
duct of the war, but he could not. Heaven only knows what 
will occur. Lord John took no time to consider, but sent 
his resignation at once, the moment he returned from the 
House. I told the Duke that I thought he had made him- 
self obnoxious to very Just reproach, running away from 
such a motion, and explaining (as he must do) that he could 
not defend the conduct of the war. He will naturally be 
asked how long he has been dissatisfied with its manage- 
ment, and why he did not retire long ago. The Duke said 
he was aware of this, but he endeavored to make out that 
the case bore some analogy to that of Lord Althorp in 1834, 
when he resigned in consequence of a motion of O'Connell's. 
But this was altogether different. Nothing can, in my 
opinion, justify Lord John, and his conduct will, if I am 
not mistaken, be generally condemned, and deprive him of 
the little consideration and influence he had left. It has 
been vacillating, ungenerous, and cowardly, for after all, in 
spite of errors and mistakes, the conduct of the war admits 
of a defence, at least as to many parts of it, and it would 
have been far better to stand up manfully and abide the re- 
sult of the battle in Parliament, than to shirk the fight and 
leave his colleagues to deal with the difficulty as best they 
may, trying to escape from the consequences of a responsi- 
bility which nothing he can say or do can enable him to 
shake off. 

January 26ih. — Yesterday morning the Cabinet met, and 
after some discussion they resolved unanimously not to re- 
sign, but to encounter Eoebuck's motion. Aberdeen went 
down to Windsor, and there is another Cabinet this morn- 
ing. I saw John Russell in the afternoon, and told him in 
very plain terms what I thought of liis conduct, and how 
deeply I regretted that he had not gone on with his col- 
leagues and met this attack with them. He looked aston- 
ished and put out, but said, ''I could not. It was impos- 
sible for me to oppose a motion which I think ought to be 
carried." I argued the point with him, and in the middle 
of our talk the Duke of Bedford came in. I asked him if 



200 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. 

he did not think the remaining Ministers were right in the 
course they have taken, and he said he did. I then said, "I 
have been telling John how much I regret that he did not 
do the same," when John repeated what he had said before, 
and then went away. After he was gone the Duke said, "I 
am very glad you said what you did to John." The town 
was in a great state of excitement yesterday, and everybody 
speculating on what is to happen, and all making lists of a 
new Government according to their expectations or wishes ; 
most people place Palmerstou at the head. In the House of 
Lords Derby asked me what it all meant. Clarendon came 
up while we were talking, and gave Derby to understand 
that he would probably have to take office again, expressing 
his own eagerness to quit it. I now hear that Lord John 
has been leading the Cabinet a weary life for many months 
past, eternally making difficulties, and keeping them in a 
constant state of hot water, determined to upset them, and 
only doubting as to what was a fit opportunity, and at last 
taking the worst that could be well chosen for his own honor 
and character. He is not, however, without countenance 
and support from some of his adherents, or from those who 
were so impatient for the destruction of this Government 
that they are satisfied with its being accomplished, no mat- 
ter how or by whom or under what circumstances ; and as 
he has been long accustomed 

to sit attentive to his own applause 

from a little circle in Chesham Place, so he will now be told 
by the same set that he has acted a very fine and praise- 
worthy part, although such will not be the verdict of history, 
nor is it, as far as I can see, of the best and wisest of his own 
contemporaries. Nobody entertains a doubt of Eoebuck's 
motion being carried by a large majority against the Govern- 
ment. 

January SOtJi. — For the last three days I have been so ill 
with gout that I could not do anything, or follow the course 
of events. John Russell made a cunning and rather clever 
speech in explanation of his resignation, George Grey a good 
one and strong against Lord John. Opinions fluctuated 
about the division, some, but the minority, fancying Govern- 
ment would have a majority because the proposed Commit- 
tee is so excessively difficult and in all ways objectionable ; 
but when it became known that the Derbyites meant to vote 



1855.] RESIGNATION OF LOKD ABERDEEN. 201 

in a body for the motion, no one doubted the result, and it 
became only a question of numbers.^ Lord John seems to 
have felt no regret at what he has done, and at exciting the 
resentment and incurring the blame of all his colleagues ; 
and he goes so little into society, and is so constantly patted 
on the back at home, that the censure of the world produces 
no effect on him. They tell me he is in high spirits, and 
appears only to be glad at having at last found the opportu- 
nity he has so long desired of destroying the Government. 
Everybody appears astonished at the largeness of the ma- 
jority. Gladstone made a very fine speech, and powerful, 
crushing against Lord John, and he stated what Lord John 
had never mentioned in his narrative, that he had been ex- 
pressly asked in December whether he still wished tlie change 
to be made which he had urged in November, and he had 
replied that he did not, that he had given it up. This siip- 
pressio veri is shocking, and one of the very worst things 
he ever did. 

Aberdeen went down to Windsor this morning to resign 
It is thought that the Queen will send for Lansdowne, and 
ask him if he can make a Government, or will try, and, if 
he declines, that he will advise her to send for Palmerston ; if 
Palmerston fails, then she can do nothing but take Derby. 
It seems likely now that we shall have either a Whig or a 
Derbyite Government, and that the Peelites will be left out 
altogether. The difficulties are enormous, and though every- 
body says that at such a crisis and with the necessity of 
attending to the war, and the war only, no personal preju- 
dices or antipathies should prevent anybody from taking 
office if their services can be of use, men will not be governed* 
by motives of such pure patriotism ; and, whoever may make 
the Government, I expect there will be many exclusions and 
many refusals to join. Some say that, if Derby comes in, 
and with the same or nearly the same men as before, he 
ought to be kicked out at once, but I do not thmk so, and, 
much as I should abhor another such Government, I think 
in present circumstances it must be allowed the fairest play, 
and be supported unless and until it commits some flagrant 
errors. 

January dlst. — The division was curious : some seventy 
or eighty Whigs, ordinary supporters of Government, voted 

' [Mr. Roebuck's Motion for a Committee of Inquiry was earned on the 29th 
of January by a majority of 157 in a llou.se of 453 members present.) 



;/ 



202 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chat. YIII, 

against them, and all the Tories, except about six or seven 
who voted against the motion ; Cobden and Bright stayed 
away. John Russell's explanation, had he spoken the truth, 
would have run in these terms : "I joined the Government 
with great reluctance, and only at the earnest entreaty of my 
friends, jjarticularly Lord Lansdowne. From the first I was 
disgusted at my position, and I resolved, unless Lord Aber- 
deen made way for me, and I again became Prime Minister, 
that I would break up the Government. I made various 
attempts to bring about such a change, and at last, after 
worrying everybody to death for many months, I accom- 

■ plished my object, having taken what seemed a plausible 
pretext for doing it." ■ 

February 1st. — Contrary to general expectation, the Queen 
did not send either for Lansdowne or Palmerston, but at 

, once for Derby. He went directly to Palmerston, who 
declined to join him. He is trying to form a Government, 
and I see the Whigs are chuckling over the probability of 
his failing and being obliged to give it up, when they evi- 
dently flatter themselves that it will fall again into the hands 
of John Russell. Rather than this should occur, I would 
prefer that Derby should succeed, and if he can get no foreign 
aid, that he should reconstitute the wretched Government 
he had before. My disgust at the conduct of my Whig 
friends is intense. Although tliey were to the last degree 
indignant at the conduct of John Russell, they have, ever 
since the interregnum began, been dancing attendance on 
him, evincing every disposition to overlook the enormity of 
^his conduct and to reform the party with a view of carrying 
'him again to the head of affairs and making another pure 
Whig Government. I confess I thought that nobody could 
refuse to serve at the present crisis, and, if the Queen sent 
for Derby, Palmerston, if invited, could not help joining, 
and taking the War Department ; but I was wrong. I see in 
no quarter, as far as I have been able to observe and judge, 
any disposition to discard prejudices, antipathies, and per- 
sonal feelings and interests, and to make every consideration 
yield to the obligations which the present emergency imposes. 
However, the game is not half played out yet. Meanwhile 
we are exhibiting a pretty spectacle to Europe, and I don't 
think our example will tempt other nations to adopt the 
institutions of which we are so proud ; for they may well 
think that liberty of the Press and Parliamentary govern- 



1855.] LORD DERBY SENT FOR. 203 

ment, however desirable they may be when regulated by 
moderation and good sense, would be dearly purchased at 
the expense of the anarchy and confusion which they are 
now producing here. 

February 'Zd. — The Queen herself decided to send at once 
to Derby, and the result proves how wise her decision was, 
for she is relieved from the annoyance of having him, and he 
is placed in such a position that he cannot embarrass her new 
Government when it is formed. Derby went to Palmerston, 
invited him to join and to bring Gladstone and Sidney 
Herbert with him. On their declining he gave it up, and 
Her Majesty then sent for Lord Lansdowne. 

Last night the Duke of Newcastle defended himself in 
the House of Lords against John Russell, and replied to his 
statements in the House of Commons, and did it very success- 
fully, carrying the House with him. The whole affair, as it 
is gradually evolved, places John Russell in a disgraceful and 
odious light, and ought to demolish him as a public man, for 
he has shown himself to be actuated by motives of pique, 
personal ambition, and mortified vanity, and to have been 
insincere, vacillating, uncandid, and untruthful. The Duke's 
statement was crushing and appears to me not to admit of a 
rejoinder. It ought to cover him and his wretched clique 
with confusion ; but they will probably attempt to brazen it 
out, and doggedly to insist that John was justified in all he 
did. The discussion last night was very characteristic of Der- 
by. If ever there was an occasion in which seriousness and 
gravity seemed to be required of a man in his position, it 
would seem to be that of last night ; but his speech was 
nothing but jeering at the late Cabinet and chaffing New- 
castle ; it was really indecent, but very smart and funny, if 
it had not been so unbefitting the occasion. 

February 4th. — No one can remember such a state as the 
town has been in for the last two days. No Government, 
diflRculties apparently insurmountable, such confusion, such 
excitement, such curiosity, everybody moving about craving 
for news, and rumor with her hundred tongues scattering 
every variety of statement and conjecture. At last the crisis 
seems to be drawing to a conclusion. The Queen has be- 
haved with admirable sense of her constitutional obligations. 
When Aberdeen took down his resignation, she told him she 
had made up her mind what to do, that she had looked at 
the list of the division, and found that the majority which 



204 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. YIII. 

had turned out her Government was composed principally of 
Lord Derby's adherents, and she should therefore send for 
him. Aberdeen said a few words rather discouraging her ; 
but she said, though Lord Palmerston was evidently the 
popular man, she thought, according to constitutional prac- 
tice. Lord Derby was the man she ought to send for. It 
has been seen how Derby failed ; then she sent for Lord 
Lansdowne, whom she desired to consult different people 
and see what their opinions and inclinations were, and report 
them to her. This was on Friday. He did so and made 
his report, after which, on the same principle which had 
decided her to send for Derby, she resolved to send for John 
Eussell, his followers having been the next strongest element 
of the victorious majority. Accordingly, on Friday night 
or early yesterday morning, she placed the formation of a 
Government in his hands. He accepted it, and began by 
applying to Palmerston, offering him any office he chose to 
take. Palmerston did not refuse, but his acquiescence 
seems to have been of a hesitating and reluctant kind, and 
nothing was definitely settled between them. Gladstone and 
Sidney Herbert, and afterwards Graham, decidedly refused ; 
Clarendon desired to have some hours to consider of it. How- 
ever, the result of his applications was so unfavorable that 
last night he considered his attempt virtually at an end, 
though he had not actually given it up this morning, and 
some further communication was taking place between him 
and Clarendon, which was to be decisive. As soon as this is 
over, the Queen will play her last card, and have recourse to 
the man of the people ! — to Palmerston, whom they are crying 
out for, and who, they fondly imagine, is to get us out of all 
our difficulties. From all 1 hear, I think he will make a 
Government, because he really wishes and is determined to 
do it, and many of the most important who would not join 
John Russell will join him. In the course of to-day I 
imagine it will all be settled. Tlie impression made by 
Newcastle's speech against Lord John has been prodigious, 
far greater and more general than I imagined, and it is con- 
fidently affirmed that, if he had taken office and stood again 
for the City, he would have been beaten. He still shows 
fight against Newcastle, and intended to have answered him 
and vindicated himself in the House of Commons yesterday, 
if he had not been detained so long by the Queen that the 
hour was up when he got there. He means to return to the 



1855.] LORD PALMERSTON TAKES OFEICE. 205 

charge to-morrow. In the course of all these transactions 
he urged Lansdownc himself to take the Goyernment, and 
offered to continue at the Council Ofiice and lead the House 
of Commons, or to take no ofiice at all, and give him inde- 
pendent support in the House of Commons, or to go to the 
House of Lords and give him his best assistance there ; but 
Lord Lansdowne declined all these offers. 

February 5th. — I have often had occasion to remark on 
the difficulty of avoiding making false or erroneous state- 
ments in affairs like those I am treating of, for the reports 
which we hear from different people generally vary consider- 
ably, and sometimes the same thing repeated by the same 
person varies also ; not that there is any intention to mis- 
represent or mislead, but circumstances apparently trilling 
are narrated differently according as the narrator has been 
impressed by, or remembers them, and thus errors creep in 
and accumulate, and at last it becomes difficult to reconcile 
statements that have become conflicting by degrees. How- 
ever, I can only Jot down what I hear, and reconcile the ac- 
counts afterward as well as I can. Yesterday afternoon I saw 
Clarendon, who confirmed his refusal to join Lord John, but 
with some slight difference as to the details. He said he had 
spoken very oi>enly to him, but so gravely and quietly that he 
could not take offence, and he did not. It was not till he 
received Clarendon's final refusal that he wrote to the Queen 
and threw up his commission. 

Her Majesty had seen Palmerston the day before, and 
told him if Lord John failed she should send for him, and 
accordingly she did so yestei'day evening. Palmerston had 
told Lord John, as soon as he received the commission he 
should go to him. At present he has only invited Clarendon 
and Charles Wood (Whigs) to join him. Clarendon of course 
is ready, but Charles Wood demurs, and insists that unless 
Lord John will take office in the Government he cannot join, 
and that the whole thing will be a failure. Lord John is 
very averse to take office, and the more averse because he 
must then go to the House of Lords, for of course he cannot 
remain in the Commons, not leading it. The Duke of Bed- 
ford has been here in a grand quandary, seeing all sorts of 
difficulties, and in fact they spring up on every side. He 
agrees with Lord John, but was shaken by the arguments of 
Wood, which are backed up by George Grey and Panmure. 
I argued vehemently against Wood's view, and strongly ad- 



20G REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. VIIL 

vised Lord Jolm's not taking office, and 1 convinced the 
Duke, who is gone back to Lord John to talk it all over with 
him again. On the other hand, the Peelites want the Gov- 
ernment to be restored, with Aberdeen again at the head of 
it, and it is very questionable whether they will join at all, 
and, if they do, not without much difficulty and negotiation, 
which will at least consume valuable time. In short, at this 
moment the formation of a Palmerston Grovernment, which 
was to be so easy, is a matter of enormous difficulty. The 
Queen wrote a civil and even kind answer to Lord John's 
note giving the task up. 

February 6th. — Great disappointment and dismay yester- 
day, the Peelites having refused to form part of Palmerston's 
Government. Graham, Gladstone, and Sidney Herbert all 
declined unless Aberdeen formed a part of it. Sidney Her- 
bert was very willing to join, but would not separate himself 
from Gladstone, who was deaf to all entreaties and remon- 
strances. It is believed that Graham is the one who has per- 
suaded Gladstone to take this course. Aberdeen is anxious, 
or pretends to be so, that they should join, and ^Newcastle 
certainly is. What Gladstone says is, that unless Aberdeen 
is in the Cabinet he can have no security that his (Aber- 
deen's) principles will be acted on, and that he may not be 
called upon to be a party to measures, relating either to war 
or peace, of which he disapproves. However, I have only 
heard second hand what he says in conversation with others. 
It has been in vain represented to him that there will be an 
explosion of indignation against them all in the country for 
refusing their aid at such a crisis, and their conduct will 
never be forgiven. All this, he says, he is aware of, but his 
objections stand on too high ground to be shaken. Palmer- 
ston means not to be baffled, and, failing the Peelites, to turn 
to the Whigs and make the best Government he can. His 
popularity, which is really extraordinary, will carry him 
through all difficulties for the present. It was supposed that 
his popularity had been on the wane, but it is eyident that, 
though he no longer stands so high as he did in the House 
of Commons, and those who know him can easily see he is 
not the man he was, in the country there is just the same 
fancy for him and sanguine opinion of him as ever. John 
Eussell made a rejoinder to Newcastle in the House of Com- 
mons last night — a plausible speech enough, and it served to 
set his friends and the Brooks's Whigs crowing again, and 



1855.] THE PALMERSTON ADMINISTExVTION. 207 

saying he had made out a complete case ; but I do not see 
that it made his case a bit better than before. All who are 
at all behind the scenes are aware of the fallacies and decep- 
tions in which his statements abound, and that they are of a 
nature that may not be exposed. 

Febrimry 1th. — Yesterday Aberdeen and Newcastle, par- 
ticularly the latter, renewed, their endeavors to prevail on 
Gladstone to give up his scruples and to join the Government, 
and at last they succeeded, and in the evening Palmerston 
was able to announce that he had accomplished his tusk and 
the Government was formed. John Iiussell, on his side, 
pressed all his Whig friends to unite with Palmerston, and. 
by these means the difficulties were gradually overcome. 
Lord Lansdowne would not take the Council Office, but 
agreed to be the organ of the Government in the House of 
Lords, though he seems afraid this should be thought to 
have committed him to more trouble and responsibility than 
he is inclined to take, and it is only a sort of quasi-leader- 
ship that he will own to. I find the Queen did propose to 
him to form a Government, and under certain conditions he 
was not unwilling to undertake it, but of course he much 
prefers the present arrangement. It is admitted on all hands 
that both Aberdeen and Newcastle have behaved very well, 
and done all in their power to facilitate Palmerston's arrange- 
ments. It is, however, much to be regretted that these Peel- 
ites have acted in concert and as a party, and I see from the 
fact a vast deal of embarrassment and opposition to the Gov- 
ernment in prospect. Already the Derbyitcs are sulky and 
angry to the greatest degree, and the Whigs not a little in- 
dignant that so much anxiety has been shown to get Glad- 
stone and his friends, and such a high price paid for them ; 
and the fact of their forming so large and important a part 
of the Government will secure the fierce hostility of the 
Derbyites, and make the support of the Whigs very luke- 
warm. The latter, too, will be influenced by John Russell, 
who, in spite of his present professions of amity and promises 
of support, is sure to be very soon a frondeur, and then in 
open and direct opposition. He told Clarendon "he meant 
to give his best support to the Government." Clarendon 
said, " You do ; well, at what do you think I value your 
support?" "What?" he asked. "Not one sixpence." 
At first Palmerston will meet with no opposition to signify ; 
if he does, he has only to dissolve, and the country will give 



208 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. Till. 

him a maiority. But opposition will gather about him soon 
enouo-h ; extravagant expectations are raised of the good he 
is to do and the great acts he is to perform, all of which will 
only lead to disappointment and mortification. If the luck 
which for many years accompanied him should do so still, 
and some unexpected success crown his administration, he 
may thus gain a great position ; but it is idle to depend on 
the"^ chapter of accidents and, according to all human proba- 
bility, he is destined to carry on a disastrous war or to make a 
peace (the wisest thing he can do) which will be humiliating, 
because so wholly incommensurate with our extravagant ex- 
pectations and ridiculous pretensions. However, if any man 
can make such a peace it is Palmerston, and it is much bet- 
ter that Aberdeen should have no concern in the Govern- 
ment, for it would be much more difficult if he was in the 
Cabinet, and supposed to have any hand in it.^ 

February 8th. — Now that all is settled, there is a moment- 
ary lull, and people are considering what sort of an arrange- 
ment it is, and how it is likely to succeed. Many ot those 
who know better what Palmerston really is than the ignorant 
mob who shout at his heels, and who have humbugged them- 
selves with the delusion that he is another Chatham, enter- 
tain grave apprehensions that the thing will prove a failure, 
and that Palmerston's real capacity will be exposed and his 
prestige destroyed. Some wish for a dissolution while his 
popularity is still undiminished, fancying it will give him 
a sure majority and will protect him against any change of 

1 [The Administration formed by Lord Palmerston was composed as follows : 
First Lord of the Treasuiy . . Viscount Palmerston. 



Lord Chancellor 
Lord President 
Lord Privy Seal 
Home Secretary 
Foreign Secretary 
Colonial Secretary 

Secretary at War 
Chancellor of the Exchequer 

Board of Control 

First Lord of the Admiralty 



. Lord Cranworth. 

. Earl Granville. 

, Duke of Arayll. 

• Sir Georsre Grey. 

. Earl of Clarendon. 

. Eight Hon. Sidney Herbert (and, on his 
resi,a:nation, Lord John Eussell). 

. Lord Panmure. 

. Mr. Gladstone (and, on his resignation, 
Sir G. Cornewall Lewis). 

. Sir Charles Wood. 

, Sir James Graham (and, on bLs resigna- 
tion, Sir Charles Wood, who was re- 
placed at the Board of Control by Mr. 
Vernon Smith). 
Board of Trade Eight lion. E. Card well (and, on his res- 
ignation. Lord Stanley of Alderley). 
Postmaster General .... Viscount Canning. 
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . . Earl of Carlisle. 
Woods and Forests . . . .Sir Benjamin Hall.] 



1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S MISSION TO VIENNA. 209 

opinion ; but, unless the Derbyites give him an opportunity 
by some vexatious opposition, he can hardly dissolve, and if 
he did, though he would gain by it for a time, any change 
of opinion that might take place would be found no less in 
the House of Commons than in the country. 

Fehruary IMli. — The political wheel turns rapidly round, 
and strange events occur, none more remarkable than John 
Russell's career during the last month, and the unexpected 
positions in which he successively appears. A few weeks 
ago breaking up his own Government, deeply offending col- 
leagues and friends, and making himself generally odious, 
then trying to form a Government and finding nobody will- 
ing to act with him ; he appeared to be in the most jminf ul 
position of isolation, and everybody expected that his anom- 
alous and unsatisfactory state would render him mischievous 
and soon conduct him into a troublesome opposition to the 
Government. Very differently have matters turned out. 
He began by evincing a good and friendly spirit, and scarce- 
ly is the Government formed, when Clarendon proposes to 
him to go to Vienna as Plenipotentiary to treat for peace, 
and John at once accepts the offer, and yesterday morning 
his mission was publicly announced. It was a happy stroke 
of Clarendon's in all ways, and it was wise in Lord John to 
accept it, for it has all the appearance of a patriotic and un- 
selfish act, will cause his recent misdeeds to be forgotten, 
and replace him in the high situation from which he was 
fallen. It is a very good thing for him to be thus withdrawn 
from Parliament for a time. There he is always in danger 
of saying and doing something foolish or rash, and it will 
leave his followers in a condition to attach themselves to the 
Government without abandoning their allegiance to him, 
which will relieve all parties from embarrassment.^ 

> [The Conference of the Great Powers which was to open at Vienna, to 
which Lord John Russell was sent as British Plenipotentiary, had been con- 
voked for the purpose of nefjotiatlnc: on the basis of the four points which con- 
tained the demands of the belliLTcrent Allies and had been accepted as a basis of 
nesotiation by the Emperor of Russia. These points were as follows : 

1. That Russia sliould abandon all control over Moldavia, Wallachia, and 
Servia. 

2. That Russia should relinquish her claims to control the mouth of the 
Danube. 

3. That all Treaties calculated to give Russia a preponderance in the Black 
Sea should be abroirated. 

4. That Russia should renounce the claim she made to an exclusive right to 
protect the Christians in the Ottoman Dominions. 

It was on the third of these points that the principal difficulty of the negotia- 
tion arose, and that the Conference failed to conclude a peace.] 



210 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. 

February lUtli. — Palmerston presented himself to the 
House of Commons last night for the first time as Minister, 
and not aj^parently with a very brilliant prospect of success. 
He made a tolerable speech, giving a rather meagre account 
of the formation of his Government, with the usual promises 
of vigor. The great point he had to handle was the disposal 
of Roebuck's Committee, which he is determined, if he can, 
to get rid of. The success of this, his first great operation, 
seems very doubtful. One man after another got up and 
declared he should vote for its going on. Roebuck insists 
on it ; and Disraeli announced his determined opposition to 
any attempt to quash it. If Palmerston fights the battle 
and is beaten, he must try what a dissolution will do for 
him ; and I think the success of it would be very doubtful, 
for, in spite of all the clamor that was raised by his name, and 
his apparently vast popularity in the country, it looks as if 
it was of a very shadowy, unsubstantial kind, and would 
very likely be found wanting at a general election. The 
temper of the House seems to be anything but good, and un- 
less we are very soon cheered and encouraged by much bet- 
ter accounts from the Crimea, this Government will not fare 
much better than the last. The " Times " is going into fu- 
rious opposition, and Palmerston will soon find the whole 
press against him except his own paper, the "Morning 
Post," and the "Morning Chronicle," neither of which 
have any circulation or any influence in the country. The 
whole conduct of the " Times" is a source of great vexation 
to me, for I am to the last degree shocked and disgusted at 
its conduct and the enormous mischief that it is endeavoring 
to do ; and I have for many years had intimate personal re- 
lations with its editor, which I do not well know how to let 
drop, and I am at the same time not satisfied that their un- 
broken maintenance is inconsistent with the feelings I enter- 
tain, and which ought to be entertained, toward the paper. 

February 19th. — The Government have determined to 
knock under about Roebuck's Committee,^ and they would 
have done much better to have done so at first. What they 
are now doing will not strengthen them or avert future at- 
tacks ; but the state of the House of Commons is such that 
nothing but some very unexpected turn can enable them to 
go on long. Palmerston has no authority there, the House 
is in complete confusion and disorganization, and, except 
the Derby ites, who are still numerous and act together in 



1855.] ROEBUCK'S COMMITTEE ACCEPTED. 211 

opposition, in hopes of getting into power, nobody owns any 
allegiance or even any party ties, or seems to care for any 
person or any thing. There seems a general feeling of dis- 
trust and dissatisfaction, and, except the scattered Eadicals 
and Revolutionists, who wish to upset everything, nobody 
seems to know what he would be at, or what object he wishes 
to attain. For the first time in my life I am really and seri- 
ously alarmed at the aspect of affairs, and think we are ap- 
proaching a period of real difficulty and danger. The press, 
with the "Times" at its head, is striving to throw every- 
thing into confusion, and running a muck against the aris- 
tocratic element of society and of the Constitution. The 
intolerable nonsense and the abominable falsehoods it flings 
out day after day are none the less dangerous because they 
are nonsense and falsehoods, and, backed up as they are by 
all the regular Eadical press, they diffuse through the coun- 
try a mass of inflammatory matter, the effect of which may 
be more serious and arrive more quickly than anybody im- 
agines. Nothing short of some loud explosion will make the 
mass of people believe tliat any serious danger can threaten 
a Constitution like ours, which has passed through so many 
trials and given so many proofs of strength and cohesion. 
But we have never seen such symptoms as are now visible, 
such a thorough confusion and political chaos, or the public 
mind so completely disturbed and dissatisfied and so puzzled 
how to arrive at any Just conclusions as to the past, the pres- 
ent, or the future. People are furious at the untoward 
events in the Crimea, and cannot make out the real causes 
thereof, nor who is to blame, and they are provoked that 
they cannot find victims to wreak their resentment on. The 
dismissal of Aberdeen and Newcastle seems an inadequate 
expiation, and they want more vengeance yet, hence the cry 
for Roebuck's absurd Committee. Then, after clamoring 
for Palmerston from a vague idea of his vigor, and that he 
would do some wonderful things, which was founded on 
nothing but the recollection of his former bullying despatches 
and blustering speeches, they are beginning to suspect him ; 
and the whole press, as well as the malignants in the House 
of Commons, tell them that they have gained very little, if 
anything, by the change, and they are told that it is not this 
or that Minister who can restore our affairs, but a change in 
the whole system of government, and the substitution of 
plebeians and new men for the leaders of parties and mem- 



212 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. YIII. 

bers of aristocratic families, of whom all Governments have 
been for the most part composed. What effect these revolu- 
tionary doctrines may have on the opinions of the people at 
large remains to be seen ; but it is evident that the " Times," 
their great propagator, thinks them popular and generally 
acceptable, or they would not have plunged into that course. 

I sat next to Charles Wood at dinner yesterday and had 
much talk with him on the state of affairs, and found that 
he takes just the same view that I do, and for the first time 
he is alarmed also, and so, he told me, is Sir George Grey. 
He talked much about Kaglan, and said that the Govern- 
ment had been placed in the most unfair position possible, 
it being impossible to throw the blame of anything that had 
occurred on him, or even to tell the truth, which was that, 
so far from his making any exertions to repair the evils so 
loudly complained of, and sending away inefficient men, he 
never admitted there were any evils at all, or that any of his 
people were inefficient, or anything but perfect ; and he said 
that Raglan had never asked for anything the want of which 
had not been anticipated by the Government here, and in 
no instance was anything required by him which had not 
been supplied a month or more before the requisition came. 
Palmerston, too, said to me that nothing could exceed the 
hopelessness of the military authorities there ; that they 
seemed unable to devise anything for their own assistance, 
and they exhibited the most striking contrast to the navy, 
who, on all emergencies, set to work and managed to find 
resources of all sorts to supply their necessities or extricate 
themselves from danger. 

February 20t7i. — Nothing certainly could be more morti- 
fying than the reception Palmerston met from the House of 
Commons on the first night when he presented himself as 
Minister, nothing more ungracious or more disheartening. 
His entreaty to postpone the Committee was received with 
a sort of scorn and manifestation of hostility and distrust. 
His position was at once rendered to the last degree painful 
and difficult. He cannot avert the Committee, he cannot 
submit to it without deep humiliation ; many of his col- 
leagues are supposed to shrink from the disgrace of such a 
submission and to prefer any alternative to it. Already there 
is a general impression that this Government cannot last 
long ; nobody thinks they would gain anything by a dissolu- 
tion, the result of one would be uncertain ; but the proba- 



1855.] LORD JOHN ACCEPTS THE COLONIAL OFFICE. 213 

bility seems to be that the Conservatives would gain and the 
Radicals likewise, while the Whigs would lose, and the Peel- 
ites and Moderates would be scattered to the winds. We 
should most likely see a Parliament still more ungovernable 
than this, unless a widesjiread alarm in the country should 
rally the whole Conservative and anti-revolutionary element 
to Derby and his party, which would bring them all into 
office for a time. Palmerston spoke much better last night 
than the first night, and with a good deal of spirit and force ; 
but he has a very uphill game to play, and must already be 
aware how fleeting his popularity was, and on what weak 
foundations it was built. 

February 23d. — Graham, Gladstone, and Sidney Herbert 
have resigned, greatly to the disgust and indignation of their 
colleagues, to the surprise of the world at large, and the 
uproarious delight of the Whigs and Brooks's Club, to whom 
the Peelites have always been odious. These stupid Whigs 
were very sorry Palmerston did not leave them out when he 
formed his Government, and take whomever he could get 
instead of them ; and they are entirely indifferent to the con- 
sideration that the greater part of the brains of the Cabinet 
is gone out with these three, that it is exceedingly difficult 
to fill their places, and that we exhibit a sad spectacle to all 
Europe, with our Ministerial dissensions and difficulties and 
the apparent impossibility of forming anything like a stable 
Government. The first thing done was to send off for John 
Eussell at Paris, and ask him if he would come back and join 
the Government. Cardwell was offered the Chancellorship 
of the Exchequer, which he refused. It is much to be 
regretted that these Peelites do not now dissolve themselves 
as a party iind make up their minds to act independently 
and according to their several opinions and circumstances. 
Aberdeen much disapproves of the exodus of the three, and 
was very anxious Cardwell should accept ; but he does not 
choose to separate himself from the rest. 

February 24:th. — Never v/as I more surprised than when 
I heard that John Russell had accepted the Colonial Office 
and joins the Government, still continuing in the House of 
Commons, and of course acting under Palmerston. When 
we think of all he has been doing for the last two years, his 
discontent at being in a subordinate capacity though still 
leader of the House of Commons, and the various pranks he 
has played in consequence thereof, it is inconceivable that 



214 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. 

he should consent not only to take office under Palmerston, 
but to serve under him in the House of Commons. But it 
is impossible not to give him credit for patriotic motives in 
making such a sacrifice of personal pride and vanity. What 
his conduct may be if the Government lasts long enough to 
allow him to come home and take his place in it, may be 
considered doubtful. Last night the retiring Ministers gave 
their explanations — G-raham in a very good speech ; Glad- 
stone was too diffuse, and Sidney Herbert feeble, but coming 
after Graham they had nothing new to say. There is much 
to be said for and much against their conduct. If they had 
accepted office under Palmerston with the condition that he 
should try and get rid of the Committee and that they should 
retire in case he failed, there would have been nothing to 
say, because without doubt they ought not to hold high 
offices while a Committee of the House of Commons is sitting 
in judgment on their bonduct ; but the whole course of pro- 
ceeding is so anomalous, and the exigencies of the time are 
so great and peculiar, that on the whole I think they ought 
to have stayed in. Palmerston speaks almost every night, 
and his speeches do not read amiss ; but everybody says 
they are feeble and flat, and nothing at present indicates 
anything like stability or a long existence to the present 
Government. The tone of the House of Commons last 
night was on the whole rather pacific than not. Bright 
made an admirable speech, the peroration of which was very 
eloquent. 

February 25ih. — -This morning George Lewis came to me 
very early and told me Palmerston had proposed to him to 
be Chancellor of the Exchequer ; he set forth very fairly all 
the reasons for and against accepting. ■ We discussed the 
whole subject, and I asked him whether he felt sufficient 
confidence in himself to undertake an office of such vast im- 
portance, whether he had sufficiently turned his attention to 
financial matters and had mastered the principles and details 
of finance. He said he thought he was sufficiently versed 
therein to undertake it, having given much attention to tax- 
ation and its principles, and to political economy generally, 
though he did not know much about the Funds, but sup- 
posed sufficient knowledge about them was easily attainable. 
Finally I advised him to accept, and he said he should make 
up his mind to do so. So the Admiralty, Colonial Office, 
and Exchequer are settled. There is much difficulty and 



1855.] DEATH OF THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 215 

much discussion and difference of opinion about some of the 
other places. They are very wisely going to take in Laing, 
but very unwisely will not give a place to Lowe, who, if left 
out, will contrive to do them some damage. Granville has 
moved Heaven and earth to get Lowe an office, but Palmer- 
ston and others set their faces against him. Lansdowne 
has most unreasonably and unwisely insisted on Vernon 
Smith being taken in, and it is at present intended to make 
him President of the Board of Control. He is very un- 
popular and totally useless, and just the man they ought 
not to take in ; while Lowe is just the man they ought, to 
meet the prevailing sentiment about old connections and new 
men. 

March "Zd. — News just arrived that the Emperor of 
Russia is dead. John Russell had telegraphed from Berlin 
that he was given over. This great and unexpected event 
must have the most important consequences whether for 
peace or for war. A disputed succession is not impossible, 
as it has long been reported that the Grand Duke Constan- 
tine was disposed to contest the succession with the Cesare- 
wich, but this will probably turn out to be a fable. It is 
supposed that the new Emperor has been all along inclined 
to peace, and that he was in disgrace with his father on that 
account, li this be true, it renders it still more pi-obable 
that he will be anxious to put an end to this destructive and 
dangerous war, and the Allied Powers may be less exacting 
with him than they were disposed to be with the late Em- 
peror. On the other hand, should the war unhappily con- 
tinue, the death of Nicholas is likely to damp the ardor of 
the Russians and to relax their exertions, so that we can 
hardly fail to profit by it. Clarendon is gone over to Bou- 
logne to confer with the Emperor Napoleon. 

There seems something like a lull here for the moment, 
and less of excitement and violence than there was. Palm- 
erston has not been in office a fortnight, and already he is 
enormously baisse ; his speeches night after night are mis- 
erable. The truth is, he never had any power as a debater, 
and he is out of his element as leader in the House of Com- 
mons, where he has to answer everybody, to speak on every 
subject, and to be continually debating more or less. He 
has made a few great speeches, prepared, and on his own 
subject of foreign affairs, and every now and then a smart 
chaffing retort which excited the hilarity of the House, and 



216 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. 

that has been all he could do. Then he seems supine and 
undecided ; he does not fill up the vacant places or seem- 
ingly endeavor to do so, and he does not put good men in 
the places he does fill up, all of which does him harm in gen- 
eral estimation. Clarendon has told Lady Palmerston very 
frankly that he will soon ruin himself in public opinion if 
he goes on in this way. Few things are more extraordinary 
than the notion that was abroad of Palmerston's fitness and 
efficacy, Never was there a greater delusion, and never one 
that is so rapidly being dissipated. 

March 10th. — It is remarkable that, though seven days 
have elapsed since the news of the death of the Emperor of 
Eussia reached us, and that we heard of it by electric tele- 
graph the very day it happened, we are still without authen- 
tic and detailed information of what has since occurred at 
St. Petersburg ; and of the manifesto of the new Emperor, 
which is looked for with so much curiosity, we have only a 
partial extract or imperfect summary, so that we have still 
no means of judging whether the chances of peace are im- 
proved by the accession of Alexander 11. 

Palmerston's Government does not seem to take root or 
gain much strength ; every day seems to prove the more 
clearly that he is unfit for the task he has taken on himself. 
He inspires neither respect nor confidence, and is totally un- 
able to manage the House of Commons ; his speeches are 
feeble and bad, and he is not always prudent and concilia- 
tory, but, on the contrary, pettish and almost offensive. He 
finds great difficulty in filling the vacant offices, and he 
evinces much want of tact and good management in his en- 
deavors to do so, offering and retracting his offers in a very 
loose way. For example, he offered Sir Eobert Peel the 
Clerkship of the Ordnance, which he accepted ; and then he 
found Monsell did not mean to resign it, so he had to with- 
draw the offer. Then he told him he should be Colonial 
Under-Secretary if John Enssell would consent. John Eus- 
sell would not consent, and then he offered him a seat at the 
Admiralty. Sir Eobert in some dudgeon demurred, and 
Palmerston, inferring from his ill humor that he would not 
take this place, offered it to Henry Brand, who accepted, 
desired his writ might be moved for, and went to the railway 
station to go down to the place he represented. Just as he 
was starting, a messenger arrived with a letter from Palm- 
erston saying Sir Eobert Peel had taken the Admiralty, so 



1855.] A COMEDY OF ERRORS. 217 

lie could not have it, and the gentleman had to return 
home without any office at all. This is a sad way of doing 
business, and will not make him more popular. Grenville 
Berkeley (whipper-in) told me he thought Palmerston was 
doing rather better latterly and that there was a better dis- 
position in the House of Commons ; but Jonathan Peel, who 
is a shrewd, dispassionate observer, and tolerably impartial, 
though with no good will to the present Government, told 
me a different story. He says the Government is as weak as 
possible, Palmerston wretched, and the House of Commons 
ill disposed and unruly, and he thinks it absolutely impos- 
sible that this concern can last many weeks. The Derbyites 
are quite confident of forcing their way to office, and quite 
determined to do so ; but it is their game to damage the 
present Government as much as possible, and they will do 
everything in opposition but what may recoil upon them- 
selves after they have got into office, and no other considera- 
tion will restrain them. I regard with the utmost dislike 
the prospect of their return, because I think their conduct 
so monstrously unprincipled. I hear Gladstone is very 
much out of humor, and expect soon to see him and his 
small band in overt opposition to the Government, Many 
fancy that it will end in big Joining Derby, but so do not I. 
I am not sure that he would be indisposed if a proper occasion 
presented itself, but I do not believe any consideration or any 
circumstances whatever would induce the Derbyites to admit 
him again into their party. Their indignation — that is, of 
a great many of them — was unbounded at Derby having 
offered him office the other day, and at the great meeting at 
Eglinton's such manifestations of resentment were made on 
that account as to make it nearly impossible (for in these 
days nothing is quite impossible) for any future attempt at 
reconciliation and reunion to be made. 

March 11th. — A fresh shuffling of the cards is being ar- 
ranged by which Frederick Peel is to go to the Treasury, 
vice Wilson, Vice President of the Board of Trade ; Sir 
Kobert to the War Department, vice his brother ; and Henry 
Brand to the Admiralty. Palmerston seemed to consider all 
the blunders he made about these officers rather a good joke 
than a mischievous gaucherie. "Ha, ha!" he said, "a 
Comedy of Errors." George Lewis told me this morning he 
thinks the temper of the House of Commons more favorable, 
and, if he can succeed in producing a palateable Budget, that 
10 



218 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. 

they may get on ; he told me the revenue was extremely 
flourishing and the country very rich, but the expenses are 
enormous. He means to meet them by a loan, but the 
question is of what amount, and how much of the additional 
expense shall be provided by it. He will want ninety mill- 
ions to cover the whole. 

Clarendon vvas much pleased with his visit to the Em- 
peror, who talked to him very frankly and unreservedly 
about everything. They lit their cigars and sat and talked 
with the greatest ease. He said the Emperor spoke to him 
about the English press, and all he said was sensible and 
true ; that he was aware that a free press was a necessity in 
England, and as indispensable as the Constitution itself, and 
that he had hitherto believed that the editors of the prin- 
cipal newspapers had the good of their country at heart, and 
always acted from conscientious motives ; but that he could 
no longer entertain that opinion. The press during the past 
months, and the "Times'' particularly, had done an incal- 
culable amount of mischief to England and to the alliance 
between us. The effect jiroduced by their language in Ger- 
many was most injurious, and of service only to Eussia. 
When the English papers talked of their own country in the 
way they did, of its degradation and disgrace, its maladmin- 
istration, the ruin of its military power, and the loss of all 
that makes a nation great and powerful, though he (the Em- 
peror) knew what all this meant, and how much or hoAV little 
of truth there was in such exaggerated statements, yet in 
France they were generally believed, and it became very 
difficult for him to reconcile the nation to an alliance for 
which he was reproached with making sacrifices and shaping 
his policy in accordance with ours, when it was evident from 
our own showing that our alliance was not worth having, 
and our impotence was so exposed that, whenever peace 
should put an end to the necessity of the alliance, we should 
be entirely at their mercy ; and while such was the feeling 
in France, in Germany it was still stronger, and there the 
"Times" had succeeded in creating a universal conviction 
that we are in the lowest condition of weakness and ineffi- 
ciency : at all of which he expressed the greatest regret. I 
was surprised to hear Clarendon say that he did not believe 
the resources of Russia to carry on the contest to be in any 
sensible degree exhausted, that her commerce had not 
suffered at all, and as to her finances she could go on 



1855.] THE VIENNA CONFERENCE. 219 

for a good wliile with her paper money and the gold 

which, in a certain quantity, she drew from the Ural 
Mountains.^ 



CHAPTEE IX. 

The Vienna Conference — Literary Occupations — A Koman Catholic Privy Councillor — Ne- 
gotiations at Vienna — The Emperor Napoleon in London — The Emperor's brilliant 
Keception — Russia refuses the Terms oftVred — The Sebastopol Committee — Debate on 
the War — Visit to Paris — Eesifrnation of M. Drouyn de Lhuys— The Emperor's Jour- 
ney to the Crimea — The Repulse at the Redan — Visit to Thiers — A Dinner at the 
Tuileries — Conversation with the Emperor — M. Guizot on the War — Death of Lord 
Raglan — A Dinner at Princess Eleven's — The Palace of Versailles — Revelations of 
Lord John Russell's Mission — Dinner with the Emperor at Villeneuve PEtang — 
Lord John Russell's Conduct at Vienna — Excitement in London — Lord John's Resijr- 
nation — Lord John's Conduct explained—'" Whom thall we Hang?" — Prorogation of 
Parliament. 

March Zlst, 1885. — Three weeks have passed away and I 
have had nothing to say ; nor indeed have I anything now 
of the least importance, and can only glance at the general 
aspect of affairs. Tlie Government, on the whole, seems in 
a somewhat better condition. They say Palmerston speaks 
better than he did, and his good humor and civility please. 
At last the offices, except the Under-Secretaryship to the 
Colonies, are filled up. Lord Elgin and Lord Seymour suc- 
cessively refused the Duchy of Lancaster, and after going a 
begging for many weeks Lord Harrowby has taken it. Laing 
and Wilson, and I think somebody else, declined the Vice 
Presidency of the Board of Trade, and they have got 
Bouverie. 

Within these few days the hopes of peace have waxed 
faint. The fatal third point is an insurmountable obstacle, 
and it seems likely that we shall be condemned to fight it 
out more fiercely than ever, and without Austria, who, as I 
all along expected, will not join us in forcing hard conditions 
on Russia. It remains to be seen whether we or Austria arc 

1 [In justice to the conductors of the " Tiities " it must be said that although 
the lani^uage of the paper was violent and extremely annoying to the Govern- 
ment and its Allies, yet it was by the power and enterprise of the press that tlie 
deplorable state of the army was brought to the knowledge of the public and 
even of Ministers themselves ; and it was hy the "Times" that the first steps 
were taken to supply the deficiencies of the Administration. The fund raised 
by voluntary contributions for this purpose amounted to £25,000, and com- 
petent persons were sent out to apply it to the most pressing wants of the 
army. J 



220 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. 

in fault, assuming the rupture of the negotiations to be in- 
evitable. If Austria recedes from what she had already 
agreed to, she is ; if we require anything more, we are. 
Drouyn de Lhuys has been here for twenty-four hours, and 
goes on to Vienna directly to bring things to a conclusion 
one way or another. Clarendon is pleased with him. The 
Emperor is to be here in three weeks. 

Having no public events nor any secret information to 
record, I must put down my own private concerns, uninter- 
esting as they are. I am busy on the task of editing a vol- 
ume of Moore's correspondence left to me by John Eussell, 
and finishing the second article upon King Joseph's Memoirs.^ 
These small literary occupations interest and amuse me, and 
being quite out of the way of politics, and seeing nobody, ex- 
cept Clarendon at rare intervals, who can or will tell me any- 
thing, it is well I can amuse myself with them ; and now that. 
I am growing old (for I shall be sixty-one the day after to- 
morrow) it is my aim to cultivate these pleasures more and 
more, and make them my refuge against the infirmities which 
beset me, and the loss of youth. My great fear is lest my 
eyesight should fail, and I earnestly hope I may die before 
such a calamity should befall me. 

The war goes languidly on, and I hear Eaglan and Can- 
robert are squabbling instead of acting, and that it seems 
to be more the fault of Canrobert -, but the melancholy truth 
is that there are two incompetent generals in command, who 
have no skill or enterprise, and are letting the opportunity 
for attacking the enemy slip away. A divided command 
and two independent armies are in themselves an immense 
drawback, but when they begin to disagree it becomes fatal. 
We have now an enormous force there, and yet they seem 
incapable of doing anything and of striking any great and 
serious blow. 

April 1st. — I went to a Council yesterday and got into 
a difficulty. "Without any previous notice, Mr. Monsell, a 
Eoman Catholic, came to be made a Privy Councillor. I 
had never sworn a Eoman Catholic and did not know what 
to do, so I proposed to Monsell to put it off till another day, 
and meanwhile I would ascertain how he was to be sworn. 
The difficulty was told to the Queen, and the Prince set 
about finding what was to be done. He looked out the 10th 

1 [Mr. Greville -wrote the review of the Memoirs of King Joseph Bonaparte 
which appeared in two successive articles of the Edinburgh Review.'] 



1855.] THE CATHOLIC OATH. 221 

George IV. (Emancipation Act), and, just as we were sum- 
moned into the Queen's presence, Granville brought the vol- 
ume, put it into my hands, and told me I must administer 
to Monsell the oath set forth there, in lieu of the oaths of 
abjuration and supremacy. I was sure it was a mistake ; 
but there was no time to remonstrate, and I was compelled 
to bring him in and administer the oath. As soon as I got 
back to my office and looked into the matter I found it was 
all wrong, and that he had not, in fact, been sworn at all. 
What he ought to have done was to take this oath in one of 
the Law Courts, and then to have the Privy Councillor's oath, 
administered to him, and so I sent him word. 

Afterward I met Sidney Herbert, and he told me what 
he believed to be the cause of Drouyn de Lhuys' coming 
here, and the actual state of affairs at Vienna. We have 
proposed the reduction of the fleet ; the Eussians refuse. 
The Emperor Naj)oleon would like, if possible, to obtain 
some great success in the Crimea, and is not indisposed to 
continue the war if he can see a reasonable hope of such an 
achievement ; but when he despairs of this his mind inclines 
to the other alternative, to make peace (which Avould be 
popular in France), and he does not care very much about 
the terms, and is not averse to waive the condition as to the 
fleet. But our Government want to insist on it, or go on 
with the war, and Sidney Herbert believes they have suc- 
ceeded in talking over Drouyn de Lhuys and persuading him 
to join us in this determination, and to carry it off to Vienna. 
However, he is very likely to be talked over again there, 
and it remains to be seen whether the Emperor, if he really 
wishes for peace, will not join with Austria in opposing us, 
and accepting some other conditions, I always fancied that 
we had come to a regular unmistakeable agreement with 
Austria what we should ask of Russia, and that she had 
bound herself to join in the war if the terms agreed in were 
refused, but, according to Sidney Herbert, this has never 
been done. Clarendon did, indeed, at last state distinctly to 
Austria the terms on which France and England meant to 
insist, and Austria expressed her concurrence in them as a 
matter of opinion, and her desire to obtain them, consenting 
also to unite her efforts to theirs in attempting to obtain 
them ; but she never consented to go to war if they were not 
conceded, therefore we have no reason to complain of her if 
the negotiations break off on these grounds, and she refuses 



222 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. 

to depart from her neutrality. She has all along said, she 
wished with all her heart we could succeed in taking Sebas- 
topol, but as we had not succeeded, and apparently could not, 
it was impossible to press very stringent terms on Russia ; 
and she has never held out any expectation to us of joining 
in the war against Eussia, unless Eussia refuses such reason- 
able and not humiliating terms of peace as she herself thinks 
indispensable for the objects to the attainment of which she 
has all along been a party. The best chance of peace now 
is that the Emperor Napoleon may think he is not likely to 
do any great things in the Crimea and that peace is his best 
policy, and he is the real arbiter of peace and war. If he 
prefers following in the wake of England, and to defer to 
our war policy, peace will ascend to Heaven, and the odious 
war will be resumed with more fury than ever, and no one 
can guess how long it will last, nor what will be the end 
of it. 

April 17t7i. — Yesterday I went out " with all the gazing 
town '' to see not the least curious of the many curious events 
I have lived to witness, the entry of the Emperor and Em- 
press of the French into London. The day was magnificent, 
the crowd prodigious, the reception not very clamorous, but 
cordial and respectful. A fine sight for them to see such 
vast multitudes, so orderly and so prosperous, and without a 
single soldier except their own escort. The Queen received 
them with the utmost cordiahty, and omitted none of the 
usual forms practised between Sovereigns. She met the 
Imperial pair at the entrance to the Castle, embraced the 
Emperor and then the Empress when she was presented to 
her. 

April 20th. — The visit of the Emperor has been one 
continued ovation, and the success of it complete. None of 
the Sovereigns who have been here before have ever been 
received with such magnificence by the Court or by such 
curiosity and delight by the people. Wherever and when- 
ever they have appeared, they have been greeted by enormous 
multitudes and prodigious acclamations. The Queen is ex- 
ceedingly pleased with both of them ; she thinks the Em- 
press very natural, graceful, and attractive, and the Emperor 
frank, cordial, and true. He has done his best to please her, 
talked to her a great deal, amused her, and has completely 
succeeded. Everybody is struck with his mean and diminu- 
tive figure and vulgar appearance, but his manners are good 



1855.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON AT WINDSOR. 223 

and not undignified. He talked a yery long time to Lord 
Derby on Tuesday at Windsor, and to Lord Aberdeen on 
Wednesday. This last was very proper, because he had a 
great prejudice against Aberdeen, and fancied he was his 
enemy, which Aberdeen knew. Wlien he was invested with 
the Garter, he took all sorts of oaths — old feudal oaths — of 
fidelity and knightly service to the Queen, and he then made 
her a short speech to the following effect : "I have sworn 
to be faithful to Your Majesty -and to serve you to the best 
of my ability, and my whole future life shall be spent in 
proving the sincerity with which I have thus sworn, and my 
resolution to devote myself to your service." The fineness 
of the weather brought out the whole population of London, 
as usual kept in excellent order by a few policemen, and in 
perfect good humor. It was a beautiful sight last night 
when the Royal and Imperial party went to the Opera in 
state ; the streets lit by gas and the houses illuminated and 
light as day, particularly opposite the Travellers' Club, where 
I was. I am glad the success of the visit has been so great, 
and the contentment of all the parties concerned so complete, 
but it is well that all will be over to-morrow, for such excite- 
ment and enthusiasm could not last much longer, and the 
inconvenience of being beset by crowds, and the strcets ob- 
structed, is getting tiresome. 

I saw Cowley for a moment yesterday. He told me the 
Russians refused any conditions which imposed loss of ter- 
ritory or limitation of naval forces, and they declined to 
offer any counter project, though they are ready to discuss 
anything we propose. He therefore considers the continu- 
ance of the war unavoidable, and does not believe Austria 
will join in it, though Drouyn de Lhuys still writes his own 
expectation that she will. He said they had never said or 
done anything which bound them to join, and that their 
diplomacy liad been much more adroit and successful than 
our's, but that this was principally the fault of the French, 
who never would consent to take a peremptory course so as 
to compel them to be explicit. The consequence of this is, 
that it will be impossible to produce the diplomatic corre- 
spondence, and its retention will put Parliament and the 
press in a fury, and expose the Government to attacks 
which they will find it very difficult to repel or to silence. 
They cannot give the reason why, and their enemies and 
detractors will believe, or at least insist, that they do not 



224 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. 

dare disclose their own share in the transaction. I asked 
Clarendon how it was that the French Government in their 
last paper in the " Moniteur " said so positively that they 
had secured the co-operation of Austria-if the last conditions 
were refused by Eussia ; he replied that he supposed they 
said so in order to make it the ground of an accusation 
against Austria when the Conference broke up and she re- 
fuses to declare war. Clarendon thinks we shall get the 
better of Eussia, but that it will be by blockading her ports 
and ruining her commerce, and not by military operations, 
and that this may take two or three years or more, but is 
certain in the end.* 

May 24:th. — The Sebastopol Committee is finished, and 
the result proves that it is a very good thing to have had it, 
for no ill consequences have come of it, and the evidence 
has benefited instead of injuring both the Government and 
those who were most bitterly abused, especially Hardinge 
and Newcastle, about the latter of whom there has been a 
considerable reaction of opinion. In Parliament nothing has 
taken place of much consequence. Ellenborough gave bat- 
tle in the Lords and was sigually defeated. Layard had an- 
nounced a hostile motion in the House of Commons, which 
he has since given up to Disraeli, who brings forward a regu- 
lar want of confidence motion to-night, which will decide 
the fate of the Government. Sir Francis Baring has moved 
an amendment which the Peelites will not vote for, because 
it pledges the House to support the war, they having now 
become furiously pacific ; as if they were not unpopular 
enough already, they are now doing all they can to mar 
their own eflicacy by giving their enemies a plausible case 
for attacking and abusing them, and by breasting the tide of 
warlike zeal and passion, which, though very absurd and very 
mischievous, is too strong and too general to be openly and 
directly resisted at present. It is quite fit and becoming to 
reason with it, and to endeavor to bring the public to a more 
reasonable frame of mind, but great tact, caution, and good 
management are required in doing this. It is very difficult 
to make out what Gladstone and his friends (for it would be 
ridiculous to call them a party) are at, and what they expect 
or desire in reference to their political future. Palmerston 

1 [The failure or suspension of the negotiations for peace at Vienna was 
formally announced to Parliament on May 21, and the protocols of the Con- 
ference'laid upon the tahle.] 



1855.] SUCCESSFUL PROSPECTS. 225 

is said to have done better in the House of Commons lately 
than he did at first, but it is curious to see how completely 
his popularity has evaporated. All the foolish people whose 
pet he was, and who clamored for him with the notion that 
he was to do every sort of impossible thing, now that they 
find he can do no more than other men, and that there never 
was any real difference between him and his colleagues, are 
furious with him because they so deceived themselves, and 
want to break the idol they set up. 

May 30th. — The division last Friday night gave Govern- 
ment a larger majority than anybody expected,^ and if it did 
not give them permanent strength it averted immediate dan- 
ger. Gladstone made a fine speech, but gave great offence 
to all who are not for peace, and exposed himself to much 
unpopularity. The discussion is only suspended till Parlia- 
ment meets again, when the amendments will be debated, 
and there will be no more divisions ; but in the meantime the 
news which has arrived of the successes in the Crimea, and 
the fair prospect there appears of still greater advantages, 
must serve to silence the advocates of peace and encourage 
those who are all for war, and to render a contest popular 
which is likely to be crowned with brilliant results, and, as 
many imagine, to give us the means of dictating peace on 
our own terms. I believe in the prospect of success, but not 
that it will reduce the Eussians to make peace on our terms, 
particularly as the conditions will infallibly be harder than 
before. But I do marvel that they did not make peace at 
Vienna on the terms which were there offered them, when 
they must have known that all the chances of war were 
against them. The Emperor of Eussia might have taken 
warning from the history and fate of Napoleon, who con- 
stantly refused the terms he could have obtained, and con- 
tinually insisted on something more than his enemies would 
give him, and by this obstinacy lost his crown. The most 
interesting incident which occurred last week was the scene 
at the end of the debate between Graham and John Eussell, 
who had a fight of considerable asperity ; and according to 
all appearances the Peelites and the Whigs are completely 
two. When Graham was reconciled to Lord John two or 
three years ago, he vowed that nothing should separate them 

J [Mr. Disraeli's Motion condemning the Government for iheir misconduct 
of the war was rejected by 319 to 219. Lord John Eussell made a warlike 
speech in the course of this debate.] 



226 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. 

again, but '' qnam parum stabiles sunt hominum amicitise," 
and now they appear to be as antagonistic as ever. But, to 
be sure, Graham could not contemplate or foresee all the 
tricks which Lord John played during the whole time he was 
a member of Aberdeen's Government. 

Notwithstanding the success of Government in the House 
of Commons and of the armies in the Crimea, things are in 
a very unsatisfactory and uncomfortable state here, and no- 
body knows what will happen. There is no confidence in 
any party or any men, and everybody has a vague apprehen- 
sion of coming but undefined evil and danger. The world 
seems out of joint. 

Paris, June 11th. — Having resolved to go to Vichy for 
my health, here I am on the road ; I crossed over yesterday 
morning, a very disagreeable but short passage from Folke- 
stone, good Journey by rail, and got here at nine o'clock, be- 
ing lodged very hospitably at the Embassy. French carriages 
on the railway are much better than ours, particularly the 
second class ; the country between Boulogne and Paris looks 
well and thriving. I had some talk with Cowley last night 
before we went to bed, when he gave me an account of tlie 
circumstances of Drouyn de Lhuys' resignation.^ He also 
descanted on the difficulties of the Government here and of 
the maintenance of the alliance, which he attributes up to 
this time entirely to the good faith and fairness of the Em- 
peror himself, and his determination that nothing shall in- 
terrupt the good understanding between the two countries, 
on which he is above all things bent. The Emperor says it 
is a great misfortune that there are no men of capacity or 
character whose services he can command, nor in fact any 
men, if he could command their services, in whom the pub- 
lic would be disposed to place confidence. Cowley had no 
veiy good opinion of Drouyn de Lhuys, and said no reliance 
could be placed in him ; but in some respects he is a loss, be- 
cause he has a certain capacity and clean hands, he is enor- 
mously rich, and guiltless of any peculation or jobbery. When 
Drouyn announced that he meant to go to Vienna, Lord Cow- 
ley urged him to go to England first and come to an under- 

1 [At the Conference at Vienna M. Drouyn de Lhuys departed from the 
conditions of peace agreed to between the French and British Governments, 
and was disposed to accept the more favorable terms which were supported by 
Austria. This led to his disavowal and resignation on his return to Paris. It 
turned out that Lord John Eussell, the British envoy to the Conference, had 
taken a similar course.] 



1855.] A VISIT TO PARIS. 227 

standing with the Cabinet there as to the terms which should 
be proposed at the Conference. He consented and went, and 
Cowley urged Clarendon to have the agreement put down in 
writing that there might be no mistake about it. This was 
done, and Drouyn went to Vienna. When he took upon him- 
self to make the jn'oposition he did, it was in direct opposition 
to his agreement with us, but he thought he should bring the 
Emperor to concur with him and to sanction it. The Em- 
peror seemed at first disposed to do so, and when he saw Cow- 
ley intimated as much to him. Cowley submitted that it was 
quite contrary to the understanding with us, and objected 
on every ground to the proposal. The Emperor said he 
really got quite confused in the intricacies and details of this 
affair, but he would see Drouyn again and speak to him 
upon it. Cowley requested (a very strange request as he 
owned) that he might be present at the interview. The Em- 
peror seemed somewhat surprised, but acquiesced. When 
Cowley came he found Drouyn had been there an hour, and 
that Marshal Vaillant was also present. They went over the 
ground again and Drouyn said what he had to say. when 
Cowley merely said he would not go into the general ques- 
tion and would only ask whether M. Drouyn's proposal was 
in conformity with what had been settled in London, and 
he appealed to Marshal Vaillant whether the termination of 
the war on such terms would be advisable. It was impossi- 
ble to maintain that the terms were consistent with the joint 
agreement, and Vaillant declared that if the French array 
was brought away, and a peace made on conditions which 
would appear to tarnish the honor of their arms, he would 
not answer for the consequences. This put an end to the 
discussion. Drouyn de Lhuys retired, and as soon as he got 
home sent his resignation to the Emperor, who wrote him 
back a very good-humored answer advising him to recall it, 
and expressing a wish that he would come and talk the mat- 
ter over with him, when he had no doubt they should come 
to a satisfactory understanding. Drouyn persisted, and then 
the Emperor accepted his resignation and sent for Walewski. 
I asked Cowley how Walewski was likely to do, and he said 
wretchedly, and that he was not of a calibre to fill such a 
post. 

He told me all about the intended journey of the Empe- 
ror to the Crimea and why it was given up. The Emperor 
was bent on it, while all the Ministers deprecated it and did 



228 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, [Chap. IX. 

all they could to prevent it. They suggested that, if any 
misfortune occurred while he was there, he could not quit 
the army ; if any success, he would infallibly stay to pursue 
it, so that his speedy return could not be counted on. This 
failed to move him. The intention was that Jerome should 
be, not Eegent, but Chief of the Council of Ministers, and 
they advised Jerome only to consent to take this office on 
condition that he was invested with the same despotic power 
as the Emperor himself. This His Majesty would not con- 
sent to, as the Ministers foresaw, and this was the reason 
why the exjDedition was given up. 

Paris, June 23d. — I came here to pass through to 
Vichy, and accordingly on Tuesday last to Vichy I went. 
I arrived there in the evening, found a detestable apartment 
without a fireplace ; the weather was intolerable, it never 
ceased raining, and the cold was intense. Finding that it 
was useless to take the waters or baths in such weather, and 
being disgusted with the whole thing, I resolved to return 
to Paris, which I did on Friday, and here I am comfortably 
established in the Embassy again. 

On my arrival I was greeted with the painful intelligence 
of the repulse sustained by the French and English on the 
18th in the attack on the Mamelon and Eedan batteries, and 
of the great losses which both armies had suffered. This 
failure has cast a great gloom over Paris and London and 
the disappointment is greater because we had become so ac- 
customed to success that everybody regarded failure in any- 
thing as impossible. Cowley told me that the Emperor was 
excessively annoyed, and the more because they entirely dis- 
approve of Pelissier's proceedings. Without tying him 
down or attempting from hence to direct the operations of 
the campaign, they had given Pelissier the strongest recom- 
mendations to abstain from assaults which they had reason 
to believe would not be decisive and would cost a vast 
number of lives, and they were very anxious the operations 
against the Eussians in the field should be pressed instead. 
There had been some half angry communications between 
the Government and Pelissier, who had talked of resigning 
the command. The opinions of the Government had been 
principally formed from those of General ISTiel, who had 
constantly reported his conviction to the above mentioned 
effect, and had earnestly deprecated these assaults. Then 
there is reason to apprehend that such unsuccessful attempts 



1855.] A DINNER AT THE TUILERIES. 229 

may produce bad blood and mutual accusations between the 
allied forces. Already P61issier and Eaglan have begun to 
cast the blame of the failure on each other, though appar- 
ently the difference has not yet swelled to any serious 
amount. I have always thought that it would have been 
better to have no divided command, but to place an English 
corps under a French commander-in-chief, and a French 
squadron under an English admiral. This was what the 
Emperor proposed, and he wrote a letter himself on the 
subject, which Cowley promised to show me. We have had 
much conversation about the Emperor, his character and his 
capacity, and I am puzzled how to understand and to do 
justice to the latter. Being such as he is represented to 
be, and having the defects he has, it is difficult to compre- 
hend his having accomplished the great things he has, and 
raised himself to such a situation and such a height of per- 
sonal power. 

Ju7ie 24:th. — Last night I went to Thiers', where I found 
Mignet, Eoger du Nord, and others of his adherents, none of 
whom I recollected, nor they me. This morning I called on 
Achille Fould, who told me the Emperor knew I was here 
and would like me to be presented to him, and it was settled 
that this should be done. I am nothing loath, for I have a 
curiosity to see this remarkable man and to converse with 
with him. Madame de Lieven told me this morning that 
not long before the Revolution of '48, Jerome Bonaparte 
had entreated her to exert her influence to get him made a 
peer. 

June 26th. — Yesterday morning arrived an invitation to 
dine at the Tuileries the same evening. I went there, was 
ushered into a room with eight or ten men in it, none of 
whom I knew except Count Bacciochi, whom I had met at 
Fould's the day before— three in uniform, the rest in plain 
clothes. A man, whom I suppose to be the aide de camp de 
service, came forward to receive me and invited me to sit 
down. Presently the same or another man came and said 
" Milord " (they all milorded me), " vous vous mettrez A 
table, s'il vous plait, d cote de I'Empercur a sa droite." I 
was then taken into the next room, which adjoins the cabi- 
net of the Emperor. In a few minutes His' Majesty made 
his appearance ; he immediately came up to me, bowed very 
civilly, and asked me the usual questions of when I came to 
Paris, etc. In a minute dinner was announced, and we went 



230 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. 

in. As we walked in he said to me, ''L'Imperatrice sera 
bien fachee de ne vous avoir pas vu." At dinner, which did 
not last above twenty-five minutes, he talked (a sort of drop- 
ping conversation) on diiierent subjects, and I found him so 
easy to get on with that I ventured to start topics myself. 
After dinner we returned to the room we had left, and after 
coffee, seeing me staring about at the portraits, he said all 
his family were there, and he told me who they all were and 
the history of these portraits, which, he said, had made the 
tour of the world. 

After this he asked me to sit down, which I did at a 
round table by his side, and M. Visconti on the other side of 
me, and then we had a conversation which lasted at least an 
hour and a half on every imaginable subject. It was im- 
possible not to be struck with his simplicity, his being so 
natural and totally without any air or assumption of great- 
ness, though not undignified, but perfectly comme ilfaut, with 
excellent manners, and easy, pleasant, fluent conversation. 
I was struck with his air of truth and frankness, and though 
of course I could not expect in my position and at this first 
interview with him that he should be particularly expansive, 
yet he gave me the idea of being not only not reserved but as 
if, when intimate, he would have a great deal of abandon. It 
was difficult to bring away all the subjects he discussed, and 
I do not know that he said anything wonderfully striking, 
but he made a very favorable impression on me, and made 
me wish to know more of him, which I am never likely 
to do. 

He talked of the war and its conduct, of the faults com- 
mitted, and of the characters and talents of the generals 
engaged, comparing them, much to their disadvantage, with 
the generals of the Empire. I asked him which were the 
best, and he said all the African generals were much of the 
same calibre : Changarnier, Lamorici^re, St. Arnaud, Can- 
robert, Pelissier — very little difference between them. The 
war they waged in Africa was of a peculiar character, and 
did not render them more capable of conducting great 
strategical operations in Europe. He talked of Thiers and 
Odilon Barrot, and described scenes with the latter in 
Council when Barrot was his Minister; of the ''Times" and 
its influence; of Spain; in short, of a vast variety of subjects; 
of the Exhibition here, and with some appearance of disap- 
pointment that the people will not go to it. His simplicity 



1855.] DEATH OF LORD RAGLAN. 231 

and absence of aW faste were remarkable ; thus, I asked him 
what he thought of the Hango affair, when he said it was 
not so bad as had been reported. " I have had an account 
of it from Admiral Penaud to-day ; should you like to see 
it ?" I said "Yes," when he got up, went into his cabinet, 
and came back with the letter in his hand ; and a little 
while after, when we were talking of the siege of Sebastopol, 
he asked if I had ever seen a very good engineer's map of 
the whole thing; and when I said I had not, he said, " Then 
I will show you one ; " and he again went into his cabinet 
and brought it out. After this long palaver he took leave of 
me, shaking hands with much apparent cordiality. 

Jtme 27th. — Bosquet has written to the Emperor that 
these assaults on the Russian works are only a useless waste 
of time. Marshal Vaillant has told Cowley that they agree 
in this, but they must either recall their general or let him 
go on in his own way, and if they interfere, the blame of any 
disaster will inevitably fall on them, no matter what might 
be the cause. I dined with Flahaut yesterday ; in the morn- 
ing rode round all the boulevards, a grand promenade by 
which Paris is well seen ; and I met Guizot at Madame de 
Lieven's, who talked of the war and asked how it was ever to 
end. " People go to war," he said, " to make conquests or to 
make peace ; you profess not to intend the first, how do you 
propose to elfect the second ? By reducing Russia to accept 
your terms — can you do so ? will she yield ? If not, what 
then ? — you may wound her, but you can't strike her in a 
vital part ; and the more barbarous she is, the more she will 
consent to suffer and the less she will be disposed to yield." 
He gave me an account (in short) of the bother about the 
Academy and the Emperor's interference. They do not 
mean to give way, but they think he will ; if he does not, he 
will have to dissolve them. 

Paris, July 5th. — One of my attacks of gout came on 
this day week and disabled me from going anywhere, doing 
anything, and still more from writing anything. In the 
meanwhile we received the news of Lord Raglan's death. ^ 
Though they do not care about it here, there has been a very 
decent display of sympathy and regret, and the Emperor 
wrote to Cowley with his own hand a very proper letter. 
There is good reason to believe that the fatal termination of 

i [Lord Raglan died in the Crimea on June 28.] 



232 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. 

Lord Eaglan's illness was in some (perhaps in great) measure 
produced by vexation and disappointment at the failure of 
the 18th, and annoyance at the many embarrassments of his 
position. It is certain that for a considerable time great 
disunion and poignant differences existed between him and 
the French generals. Canrobert wrote home a very unhand- 
some letter, in which he gave as one of his reasons for resign- 
ing the impossibility of going on with Eaglan. I believe 
Eaglan complained of Canrobert with much better reason. 
On the 18th Pelissier changed the plan of attack that had 
been agreed on between them ; and, besides all the mistakes 
that occurred in the French operations, there seems to have 
been a want of continual and active concert between the two 
commanders-in-chief during the operations. Eaglan pro- 
posed a general attack on the town when the assaults failed, 
which Pelissier refused to agree to. There is a fair proba- 
bility this would have succeeded, as an English force did get 
into a part of the town, stayed there some time, and got 
away unobserved. There is now a bad feeling, a disposition 
to recrimination, between the two armies, which may have 
very bad effects, and it is awful to think our army is under 
an untried man of whom nothing is known, and who is not 
likely to have more weight with, and receive more considera- 
tion from, the French generals than his predecessor. How- 
ever desirable unity of command may be, in the present 
temper of the troops, and after all that has occurred, it would 
be impossible. General Torrens, who is here, speaks in high 
terms of Eaglan, especially of his magnanimity in bearing all 
the blame which has been thrown upon him and never saying 
one word in his own vindication, which might have entirely 
exonerated him, but have done some injury to the cause. 
Torrens thinks that in all or almost all in which he has aj)- 
peared most obnoxious to censure he could have triumph- 
antly excused himself, and have proved that the causes were 
attributable to others and not to himself. His must have 
been a painful as it was an ungrateful service, and it was a 
melancholy and untimely end. 

Paris, July Qth. — I went yesterday to the Exhibition in 
the morning ; then to Notre Dame and the Luxembourg 
Gardens, and drove about Paris ; dined en trio with Madame 
de Lieven and Guizot, when there was of course nothing but 
political talk. Guizot thinks there has been not only a series 
of diplomatic blunders, but a wonderful want of invention, 



1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S RETURN. 233 

not to etrike out some means of adjusting tbis quarrel, in 
which I agree with him. This morning Labouchere and I 
went to Versailles. Fould had given me a letter to the 
Director of the Museum there, M. Soulie, whom we found 
very intelligent, well informed, and obliging. We told him 
our object was to avoid the giro regolare of the endless rooms 
fitted up with bad pictures by Louis Philippe, and to see the 
apartments full of historical associations from the time of 
Louis XIV. down to the Kevolution. "VYe were completely 
gratified, and he took us over everything we wished to see, 
being admirably qualified as a cicerone by his familiarity with 
the localities and the history belonging to them. We saw all 
the apartments in which Louis XIV. lived, and what remains 
of those of Madame de Maintenon. The Palace has been so 
tumbled about at different times, and such alterations made 
in it, that it is not always easy to ascertain correctly where 
the rooms of certain personages were, but our guide proved 
to our complete satisfaction that certain rooms he showed us 
were those which really did belong to Madame de Maintenon. 
We saw too in minute detail the apartments of Louis XVI. 
and Marie Antoinette, and the passages through which she 
fled to escape from the irruption of the mob on the 5th of 
October. The whole thing was as interesting as possible. 

Paris, July 9th. — I meant to have left Paris last night, 
but, an invitation arriving to dine with the Emperor at 
St. Cloud to-day, I put olf going till to-morrow. I went 
yesterday to Versailles to see the grandes eaux and was 
disajl^Dointed, and dined there with the Ashburtons. This 
morning telegraphic news came of a Eussian sortie last 
night ; no details of course. Yesterday we were thrown into 
consternation by the intelligence from London of the reve- 
lations of John Kussell in the House of Commons and the 
discussion thereupon. Le Marchant wrote to Labouchere 
and told him the effect was as bad as possible, and the whole 
case very deplorable. My own opinion is that nobody could 
have acted more indiscreetly and unjustifiably than John 
Russell has done, and he has sacrificed his character and 
authority in a way which he will find it difficult to get over. 
But I am disposed to agree with him that the terms pro- 
posed by Austria, if they could have been brought to maturity 
and carried out, were quite sufficient to make peace upon, 
and that the negotiations ought to have continued in order 
to endeavor to bring about this result. The effect of this 



234 REIGN or QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IX. 

public announcement to the whole world, that the English 
Minister at the Congress as well as the French one was 
willing to accept the terms proposed by Austria, will not fail 
to make a great sensation, and produce a considerable effect 
both in Germany and in France. In England it is doubtful 
whether it will have any other result than to damage John 
Eussell himself, and increase the vulgar prejudice against 
public men. My own idea is that it will render the war 
still more unpopular in France, and the English alliance 
likewise, because it will encourage the prevailing notion 
that the war is carried on for English interests and in 
deference to the wishes of England. Though John Eussell 
declared that the resolution of the Emperor to part with 
Drouyn de Lhuys and reject the Austrian proposal had been 
made before the intention of the English Cabinet was known, 
this will not be believed, or at all events everybody will be 
convinced that he knew what the sentiments of England 
were, and that he really acted in conformity with them, as 
was beyond all doubt the case. 

July 10th. — I dined at Villeneuve I'fitang. We went to 
the Palace of St. Cloud in Cowley's carriage, where we found 
an equerry and one of the Emperor's carriages, which took us 
to Villeneuve. A small house, pretty and comfortable enough, 
and a small party, all English — Duke and Ducliess of Hamil- 
ton, Lord Hertford, Lord and Lady Ashburton, General 
Torrens and his aide de camp, Cowley and myself, the Due 
de Bassano, Comte de Montebello, the aide de camp de service, 
and M. Valabregue, ecuyer, that was the whole party. .The 
Emperor sat between the two ladies, taking the Duchess in 
to dinner. It lasted about three quarters of an hour, and as 
soon as it was over His Majesty took us all out to walk about 
the place, see the dairy and a beautiful Bretonne cow he or- 
dered to be brought out, and then to scull on the lake, or 
etang, which give its name to the place. There were a num- 
ber of little boats for one person to scull and one to sit, and 
one larger for two each ; the Emperor got into one with the 
Duchess, and all the rest of the people as they liked, and we 
passed about half an hour on the water. On landing, ices, 
etc., were brought, and the carriages came to the door at nine 
o'clock, a cliar a 'banc with four perclierons and postillions 
exactly like the old French postboy, and several other open 
carriages and pair. The two ladies got into the center of 
the char a banc, Cowley, Hertford, and I were invited to get 



1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S CONDUCT AT VIENNA. 235 

up before, and the Emperor himself got up behind with 
somebody else, I did not see who. We then set off and 
drove for some time through the woods and drives of Ville- 
neuve and St. Cloud, and at last, at about ten o'clock, we 
were set down at the Palace. There we all alighted, and, 
after walking about a little, the Emperor showing us the part 
which Marie Antoinette had built and telling some anecdotes 
connected with Louis XVIII. and Louis Philippe, and the 
Chateau, he shook hands with all of us very cordially, and 
dismissed us. His Majesty got into the char a banc and re- 
turned to Villeneuve, and we drove back to Paris. When 
we were walking about the court of the Chateau (it was quite 
dark) the sentinel challenged us — " Qui va la ? " when the 
Emperor called out in a loud voice — "L'Empereur." 

Of course, in this company there was nothing but general 
conversation, and I had no opportunity of having any with 
His Majesty ; but he was extremely civil, offering me his 
cigars, which I declined, and expressing anxiety that I 
should not catch cold. He made the same impression on 
me as before as to his extreme simplicity and the easiness of 
his intercourse ; but I was struck with his appearance being 
so very mesquin, more than I thought at first. 

Lady Ashburton told me she had received a letter from 
Ellice, telling her that the affair in the House of Commons 
had produced the most serious effect, and that it would 
probably end in the retirement of John Russell, and eventu- 
ally to a change of Government. He had got a story, which 
I utterly disbelieve, that Milner Gibson had been instigated 
by John Russell himself to give him this opportunity of say- 
ing what he did, which was certainly more than he need 
have said.^ Lord John seems for some time past to have 
been bereft of his senses, and to commit nothing but blun- 

» [On July 6, Lord Jobn Eussell declared in the House of Commons, in 
answer to a question put by Mr. Milner Gibson, that he was personally con- 
vinced that the terms proposed at Vienna by the Austrian Government gnwc. a 
fair prospect of the termination of hostihties, but that on his retura to England 
the Government declined to accept them, M. Drouyn do Lhuys, the French 
envoy, had also been in favor ot tlicse terms. This declaration appeared to be 
wholly inconsistent with the warlike speech whicli Lord John had made, on 
his return, on May 24. Sir E. B. Lytton then gave notice of a motion con- 
demning the conduct of the Ministers charged with negotiating at Vienna; but 
Lord John Russell anticipated the inevitable vote of censure by resigning office, 
and he was succeeded in the Colonial Department by Sir William Slolesworth. 
This transaction was held to reflect deep discredit on Lord John Eussell's con- 
duct, and justifies the severe language applied to him in the text, but this was 
somewhat mitigated by Mr. Greville in a subsequent passage.] 



236 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX, 

ders one after another. What has been passing in his mind, 
and what his real objects are or haye been, it would puzzle 
anybody to say. If he had personal views and wanted to re- 
gain the station and power which he had lost, never did any 
man take such false steps and pursue so eiToneous a course 
to obtain his ends. He had in some measure retrieved the 
character and consideration which he forfeited by his con- 
duct at the beginning of this year ; but I do not see how he 
is ever to get over this, nor how his followers can any longer 
have any confidence in him, and I do not believe the country 
at large ever will. As to his opinion on the terms of peace, 
I agree with it, and think it would have been wiser to close 
with Buol's proposal, and to continue to negotiate ; but this 
makes no difference as to his conduct in the affair, for which 
there is no excuse. He never ought to have committed him- 
self at Vienna ; his instructions were clear and precise and 
quite inconsistent with Buol's proposition. He might have 
engaged to bring it before his G-overnment, but should, espe- 
cially as he was a Cabinet Minister, have abstained from ex- 
pressing any opinion of his own upon it. He appears at 
Vienna to have been easily talked over, and to have been ex- 
ceedingly wanting iu diplomatic finesse and penetration ; 
but all I have picked up here in conversation proves to me 
that there have been errors innumerable and the greatest 
mistakes in the conduct of these affairs throughout, and the 
exigencies of the alliance and the necessity of concerting 
everything to the most minute particular with both Cabinets 
have produced results not less unfortunate in diplomacy than 
in war. The affair before Sebastopol the night before last 
turns out to have been of no importance, only a demonstra- 
tion against the English lines. 

London, July 13th. — I left Paris on Tuesday night at 
7.30, got to Calais at three ; low water and steamer three 
miles out at sea ; went out in a boat in a torrent of rain 
which had lasted the whole journey and all day. Train was 
just gone when we got to Dover, but we arrived in town 
about eleven. I found a precious state of affairs, all con- 
fusion and consternation, Bulwer having given notice of a 
motion of want of confidence on account of John Russell, 
whose affair has brought himself and the Government to the 
very brink and almost to the certainty of ruin. There is as 
much excitement against Palmerston's Government, all on 
account of Lord John, as there was a few months ago against 



1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S EXPLANATION. 237 

Aberdeen. I found Brooks's in a state of insurrection, and 
even the Attorney-General (Cockburn) told me that the Lib- 
eral party were resolved to go no further with John Eussell, 
and that nothing but his resignation could save the Govern- 
ment, even if that could ; that they might be reconciled to 
him hereafter, but as long as the war lasted they repudiated 
him. Meanwhile he has not resigned. There was a long 
Cabinet the day before yesterday in which they discussed the 
state of affairs, and what measures could be taken. Lord 
John offered to resign, but they would not hear of it, and 
came to a resolution to stand or fall together. I saw Clar- 
endon yesterday, who was fully aware of the imminence of 
the danger, and of the probability of their being out on Mon- 
day ; he said Lord John's whole conduct was inconceivable, 
and he knew not to what to attribute his strange speech, in 
which he had made for himself a much worse case than the 
circumstances really warrant, and given to the world impres- 
sions which are not correct ; for in point of fact he did not 
urge Buol's projjosal upon the Cabinet, but when he laid it 
before them and found it not acceptixble, he at once yielded 
to all the arguments against it, and instead of making any 
attempt to get peace made on those terms, he joined with all 
his colleagues in their conviction of the necessity of carrying 
on the war vigorously ; and this conviction induced him to 
make the warlike speech with which he is now reproached 
as being inconsistent with the opinions he was entertain- 
ing (as it is said) at the time he made -it. Yesterday he at- 
tempted to make something of an explanation, but he 
only floundered further into the mire, and was laughed at. 
Everybody thinks he made his case worse rather than better, 
but he really seems to have lost his head. His whole con- 
duct at Vienna and here has exhibited nothing but a series 
of blunders and faults, and he has so contrived it that no 
explanations he can possibly make will extenuate them, or 
place him in a tolerable light in the eyes of the public. In 
the morning yesterday I had occasion to call on Disraeli 
about some business, when he talked over the state of affairs 
very freely, and gave me to understand that he intended 
and expected to turn out the Government and to come 
in with his party, but he owned that their materials for 
forming a tolerable Government were very scanty, that he 
would not attempt their old Government over again, but, 
except Lytton Bulwer, of whom he spoke in terms of high 



238 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IX. 

praise, he knew not where to find any fresh men worth any- 
thing. 

Bath, July 19th. — I came here on Saturday night. In 
the course of Friday morning 1 met Drumlanrig, who told 
me the subordinate place men had caused John Eussell to be 
informed that if he did not resign they should, and vote for 
Bulwer's motion on Monday. This produced his resignation, 
but under circumstances as mortifying as possibly could be, 
and which must have made him deeply regret that he did 
not resign at first, although he is not to be blamed for hav- 
ing yielded to the wishes of his colleagues, and I am satisfied 
he did so from the best motives. It was no sooner known 
that he had resigned than the excitement began to subside, 
and everybody thought that Bulwer would withdraw his 
motion, and at all events nobody doubted that it would 
come to nothing. The motion was withdrawn but the de- 
bate took place, and such a debate ! — it was impossible to 
read it without indignation and disgust. Bulwer's speech 
was a tissue of foul abuse with the grossest and most wilful 
misrepresentations and endeavors to draw inferences he knew 
to be false and fallacious, with the hope and purpose of dam- 
aging the characters of the Ministers. In these times, when 
the great evil is the bad opinion which the public has been 
led to entertain of public men, Bulwer endeavors, for a 
mere party purpose, to aggravate that hostile feeling and 
to make the world believe that, in a great party and a Cabi- 
net composed of men whose characters have never been im- 
pugned, there is neither truth, sincerity, nor good faith, and 
by producing such an impression to bring the aristocracy 
into greater disrepute. Disraeli, of course, spoke in the 
same tone, Palmerston was very bad, and his speech was 
quite unbecoming his position. John Eussell's defence was 
not calculated to relieve him from the weight of obloquy 
and unpopularity -he had brought on himself, and the whole 
thing was unsatisfactory, except that it denoted the end of 
the contest and the disappointment of the Opposition, whose 
hopes had been so highly raised. 

After much consideration of John Eussell's conduct, I 
think it is not obnoxious to the severe censnre with which it 
has been visited, and though he has committed errors, they 
are venial ones and admit of a fair explanation. Had not 
Buol's publication revealed to the world what had passed be- 
tween them confidentially, nothing of it would have been 



1855.] APOLOGY FOR LORD JOHX. 239 

known, and he would have been left to the enjoyment of the 
popularity he had gained by his anti-Russian speech. The 
statement about him in Buol's Circular naturally led to 
questions, and then it was necessary to tell everything and 
lay bare the arcana of Cabinets and Conferences ; and when 
he endeavored to explain his own conduct it became, amid 
all the complexities of the case itself, its endless variety of 
details and confusion of dates, next to impossible to unravel 
it satisfactorily, and quite impossible to protect himself from 
the imputations which an unscrupulous and malignant as- 
sailant could easily contrive to bring against him ; and in 
this great difficulty he displayed no tact and ingenuity in 
extricating himself from the dilemma in which he was placed ; 
on the contrary, he went blundering on, exposing himself to 
many charges, all plausible and some true, of inconsistency, 
inaccuracy, and insincerity, and he made in his speeches a 
case against himself which left very little for his enemies to 
do. It might be strange in any other man, but is perhaps 
only consistent in him, that he is now more indignant with 
the friends who refused to follow and support him on this 
occasion than either ashamed or angry witli himself for hav- 
ing blundered into such a scrape. He writes, meanwhile, 
to his brother, who has sent me his letter, in these terms : — 
" I have endeavored to stand by and support Palmerston, 
too much so, I fear, for my own credit, but had I resigned 
on my return from Vienna, I should have been abused as 
wishing to trip him up and get his place : in short, the situa- 
tion was one of those where only errors were possible. I 
have acted according to my own conscience ; let that suf- 
fice." False reasoning and wounded pride are both appar- 
ent in this letter, but he is quite right when he says that 
"only errors had become possible." There is no course he 
could have taken that would not have exposed him to bitter 
attacks and reproaches, and these unavoidable errors were 
not confined to himself. 

The first thing that strikes me is that the Cabinet ought 
to have accepted his resignation when he first tendered it ; 
but there were no doubt difficulties and objections to that 
course, and their reluctance to let him throw himself over- 
board was not unnatural and was generous. The defence 
which his conduct really admits of may be (to state it very 
briefly) thus set forth. I put it loosely, and as it strikes me, 
taking a general view of the case ; to make it more accurate 



240 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. 

and complete, the dates and the documents should be before 
me, which they are not. He went to Paris with .instructions 
precisely corresponding with what was verbally arranged 
in London between Drouyn de Lhuys and the Cabinet, 
and they were conjointly to propose the conditions which 
the two Governments had agreed to require from Russia ; 
but still they were not the bearers of an Ultimatum, they 
did not go to give law to Eussia, or as Judges to pronounce 
sentence upon her. They went to confer and to negotiate, 
to endeavor to obtain the precise terms which would be 
entirely satisfactory to their two Governments, and failing 
in this to see what they could obtain. If they were in- 
structed to insist on the limitation, just as they proposed 
it at the Conference, and to accept nothing else, nothing 
either short of it or varying from it, then the very idea 
of a Conference and a negotiation was a mockery and a delu- 
sion. It was a mockery to invite the Eussian plenipotentiary 
to make proposals, and the conduct of the Allies was disin- 
genuous and deceitful. Certainly Austria never contem- 
plated, still less would she have been a party to, such a 
course of proceeding ; and her notion wds, and, of course, 
that of Eussia also, that there should be a bond fide negoti- 
ation, and an attempt to bring about an understanding by the 
only way in which an understanding ever can be brought about 
— mutual concessions. We proposed the limitation scheme, 
and Austria backed us up in it cordially, sincerely, and forci- 
bly, at least to all appearance. Eussia rejected it on the 
ground of its incompatibility with her honor and dignity. 
Then Eussia made proposals, which the Allies, Austria in- 
cluded, rejected as insufficient. John Eussell and Drouyn 
de Lhuys appear to have fought vigorously in the spirit of 
their instructions, but when they found there was no chance 
of the Eussians consenting to the limitation, they both be- 
came anxious to try some other plan, by which peace might 
possibly be obtained, and they each suggested something. 
At last, when the Conference was virtually at an- end, as a 
last hope and chance Buol produced his scheme. John Eus- 
sell had already committed himself to an approval of the 
principle of it, by the plan he had himself suggested, and, 
when he found that both his French and Turkish colleagues 
were willing to accept it, it is not surprising that he should 
have told Buol privately and confidentially that he acqui- 
esced in it, and would urge it on his Government. As it has 



1855.] LORD JOHN'S CONDUCT AT VIENNA. 241 

turned out, this was a great indiscretion for which he has 
been severely punished. As he had every reason to believe 
that Buol's plan would not be acceptable to his own Govern- 
ment, what he ought to have done was to give notice to 
Clarendon that such a proposal had been made, and to beg 
it might be considered before any final resolution was taken, 
and to tell Buol that he had done so ; to promise that he 
would submit to the Cabinet all the arguments that had been 
used in its favor, but to abstain from any expression of his 
own opinion, and shelter himself from the necessity of giving 
any by the tenor of his own instructions. When he found 
the French Minister for Foreign Affairs consenting, he might 
very well suppose that the French Government would not 
reject the proposal, and that he should not be justified in 
putting a peremptory veto on what France was disposed to 
accept as sufficient. Besides, although he has never put for- 
ward such an argument in any of his speeches, he may have 
thought, as I do, that ''counterpoise" and "limitation" 
were the same thing in principle, and the only difference be- 
tween them one of mode and degree. Buol's counterpoise 
involved limitation, our limitation was to establish a counter- 
poise ; therefore, even in the spirit of the instructions and 
arguments of the French and English Governments, their 
plan of limitation having failed, Buol's plan of counterpoise 
was entitled to consideration,^ and the only question ought 
to have been whether it would have been effectual for the 
purpose common to all, and whether it would be an honor- 
able mode of terminating the war. 

John Russell's fault was committing himself to Buol as 
approving his plan before he knew how it would be viewed 
at home ; but I see neither impossibility nor inconsistency 
in his having regarded it favorably at Vienna, and being 
biassed by all the arguments in its favor which there beset 
him on all sides, and when he returned to England and found 
the opinions of all his colleagues adverse to it, and heard their 
reasons for being so, that he should have been convinced by 
them, have subscribed to the general decision, and joined 
cordially with them in the vigorous prosecution of the war. 
Having come finally to this conclusion, his warlike speech 

' [The proposal submitted to the Conference by Count Buol was that each 
of the Powers should have the right to maintain a limited naval power in the 
Black Sea. The whole discussion turned upon suppression of the naval suprem- 
acy of Russia in the Black Sea and the manner in which it was to be effected.] 

11 



242 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. 

was not unnatural, and he made it probably very mucli to 
prove to his own colleagues that he was in earnest with them. 
There was no necessity for his proclaiming what had passed 
at Vienna, as nothing had happened in consequence, and 
the question was not what impression had been made on his 
mind there in the course of the negotiations, but what was 
the opinion, and what the resolution at which he finally 
arrived when all was over. But he has repeatedly in the 
course of his career contrived to do a vast deal of mischief 
by a very few words, and so it was in this instance. When 
he was driven to confess that he had endorsed Buol's pro- 
posal, and said that he was still of the same opinion, his 
opponents were able with every appearance of truth to say 
that he had intended to conceal what he had done at Vienna, 
and to deceive the country, both as to his past conduct and 
his present opinions ; and as it was obvious from his own 
avowal that he still was of the same opinion as at Vienna, 
his war speech was hypocritical and insincere, and he was 
unfit to be in a Cabinet pledged to carry on the war earnestly 
and vigorously. Against such an attack it was very diffi- 
cult to make a good defence, and I doubt whether the most 
lucid and circumstantial statement and the most natural 
explanation of his own motives and sentiments at different 
periods of the transaction would have received a patient 
hearing and dispassionate consideration. The House of 
Commons and the public were in that frame of mind that 
will not listen, and cannot be fair and just, and he became, 
and could hardly avoid becoming, the victim of his own 
want of caution and prudent reserve and the excessive com- 
plication of the circumstances and details of the case. 

London, July 28th. — I returned from Bath yesterday ; 
went to Newmarket in the evening and returned this morn- 
ing. There is nothing new at home and abroad ; to all out- 
ward appearance the siege standing still, but they say it is 
going on in a safe and judicious manner calculated to bring 
about success. Cenerai Simpson wants to resign, but no man 
fit to succeed him can be found. ^ I have read the pamphlet 
" Whom shall we Hang ?" and think it makes a very good 
case for the late Government, especially Newcastle, but it is 

1 [Upon the death of Lord Raglan General Simpson, an officer of whom little 
was known, succeeded, as senior m rank, to the command of the army. He 
retained the command but a short time, Genei-al Codi-ington having been ap- 
pointed by the Government to succeed him.] 



1856.] PROEOGATION OF PARLIAMENT. 243 

SO long that few people will read it ; and though it may con- 
vince and satisfy some one here and there, it will not suffice 
to stem the torrent which is so swollen by ignorance and 
malice. At Brooks's this afternoon I met iitzroy, who said 
a great deal to me about the condition of the Government, 
of the state and disposition of the House of Commons, and 
Palmerston's management there, and his conduct as a leader. 
London, August lUh. — Since my last date I have been to 
Goodwood, and since then here, having had nothing to note 
beyond what has appeared in all the newspapers. Parliament 
was prorogued yesterday, after a session of average duration, 
but marked by a great many incidents of a disagreeable char- 
acter, and exhibiting a downward tendency as regards the 
future tranquillity and prosperity of the country. The last 
few days were marked by an angry contest provoked by Lord 
Grey in the Lords, not altogether without Ci^use : the Limited 
Liability Bill came up so late that, according to the Standing 
Order, it could not be considered. Government moved the 
suspension of the Order, which was carried, but there was no 
time to discuss properly the provisions of the bill, and it was 
hurried through the House by force, probably in an incom- 
plete form. Grey was very angry, and fought it tooth and 
nail, declaring his opposition to a Government which had, 
he insisted, behaved so ill. Mr. Monsell was made a Privy 
Councillor, the oath having been altered to meet his scruples, 
in spite of all the remonstrances I could offer against such 
an unworthy compliance as this appears to me. 



244 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Ckap. X. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Oneen's Visit to France— Sir George C. Lewis on tlie War— Inefficiency of Lorrt 
PiiniDure— Thi- Qu.-i-n nnd the Kmpi.-ror— Loid .lofln Kussell's Esirantieuient from 
h's Frieuds-The Fall of Sebastopol-'lhe Q leen on th3 Or.eans Coufiscation— The 
Prince Regent's '.etteron the Holy Alliance— Kernient in Italy— The Failure at the 
KeJan— Lord John's Defence— General Windham— Lord John Kusseil'.s Ketirement — 
Death of Sir Robert Adair— Adieu to the Turf— Progress ot the W ar— Colonial Office 
proposed to Lord Slanlev- Lord John Kusseli's Fosition— Relations with Mr. Disraeli 
— Mr. Laboucbere Colonial Secretary— Is e;,'-otiations for Peace— The Terms propo>ed 
to Russia The King of Sardinia and M. de Cavour at Windsor— The Demands of the 
Kin>' of Sardinia- Lord Palmerston presses for War-Lord Macaulay's History of 
KiT'la-id- An Ultimatum to Russia— Ui-arh of the Poet Rogers- Frmch Minisiers — 
The Empiror s IJiplom ic\— Sir George C. Lewis's Aversion to the War— Qu nrels of 
WaleAfs.ci aal PiTsi'jfny —Austria presents the Terms to Ruasia— Baron Seebach me- 
^ates— The Emperor's' Difficulties and Doubts. 

London, August 31si^.— The Queen as usual has had mag- 
nificent weather for her Paris visit, and all has gone well there 
except that unluckily she arrived after her time at Boulogne 
and still more at Paris, consequently the Emperor was kept 
waiting at Boulogne, and the whole population of Paris, 
which turned oufc'and waited for hours under a broiling sun, 
was disappointed, for they arrived when it was growing dark. 
However, in spite of this, the scene appears to have been very- 
fine and animated. Clarendon, who is not apt to be enthusi- 
astic, writes so to Palmerston, and tells him that Marshal 
Magnan said he had known Paris for fifty years, and had 
nevlir seen such a scene as this, nor even when Napoleon 
returned from Austerlitz. 

George Lewis called on me yesterday. I have hardly seen 
him during the session, and, having advised him to take his 
present ofiice, I was glad to be able to congratulate him on 
his success. He was very natural about it, and owned that 
he had every reason to be satisfied with his reception both 
by the House of Commons and the City. I found that his 
sentiments about war and peace were identical with my own. 
He had been all along against the war, and thought it ought 
to have been prevented, and might have been in the outset, 
and that peace ought to have been made the other day ; but, 
as he was in no way responsible for the war, he had nothing 
to do but to submit to the fait accompli and to do his best 
to raise the necessary supplies in the most advantageous 
manner. It is evident that, if there could have been a 
potential peace party in the Cabinet, he would have been 
one of them, but as it is he kept his real sentiments to him- 
self and subscribed to the decision of the majority. We 



1855.] BATTLE OF THE TCHERNAYA. 245 

talked of the cession and its incidents. He said history re- 
corded nothing like the profusion with which the present 
House of Commons was inclined to spend money. It was 
impossible to ask for too much ; their only fear seemed to be 
lest the war should not be conducted with sufficient vigor, 
and to accomplish this they were ready to vote any amount 
of money. Lewis thinks the rage for war as violent as ever, 
and the zeal of the country not at all diminished, he sees no 
symptoms of it. The wealth and resources which the crisis 
has developed are most curious ; thus, he reduced the inter- 
est on Exchequer Bills not long ago — an operation he be- 
lieves never before attempted in time of war. War has had 
little or no effect on trade, which is steady and flourishing ; 
but he thinks, unless some great successes infuse fresh ani- 
mation into the public mind, that before long they will begin 
to tire of the contest, and to reflect that it is being carried 
on at an enormous cost for no rational object whatever, and 
merely from motives of pride and vanity and a false notion 
of honor. Charles Villiers thinks differently, and that there 
is already a manifest change of opinion, and that opposition 
to the war has already begun. I wish I could see some 
symptoms of it, but, though there may be some, I think they 
are slight. Lewis thinks John Kussell has completely done 
for himself by his last speech. He was recovering from the 
effects of his first ; there was a reaction in his favor ; his 
friends were anxious to be reconciled to him and to renew their 
support and confidence, when he played into the hands of his 
enemies and made his own position worse than it was before. 

Lewis told me that he was much struck with the medi- 
ocrity of Panmure, who was one of the dullest men he ever 
knew, and that he was by far the least able man in the Cabi- 
net, and as bad as possible as Minister of War — prejudiced, 
slow, and roufinier. It is evident that Newcastle was a 
much abler man, and if he had happened to have come after 
Panmure, he would have been as much belauded as he has 
been abused. 

September 5tJi. — A complete stagnation in every way ; no 
news whatever since the battle of the Tchernaya,^ and no- 
body has the least idea. Ministers included, of the state and 
progress of the war. I asked Granville, who is just come 

J [The battle of tlie Tehernava was fought on the 16th of August, -when 
General LiprancU attacked the French and Sardinian armies in their lines, witih 
a large force, but was repulsed with great loss.] 



2146 REIGN OF QTJEEN VICTORIA. [Chap, X. 

from Paris, if he knew anything, and he said he did not, and 
that the Emperor, whom he had seen a day or two ago, com- 
plained of being equally in the dark. His Majesty, Gran- 
ville said, was very low about the war, and comiilained that 
none of the expeditions and diversions had been undertaken 
which might have advanced the cause more rapidly. Pelis- 
sier seems to be very much deconsidere and thought worth 
very little as a general. 

1 saw Clarendon one day last week for a short time, but 
had no opportunity of hearing the details of his sojourn at 
Paris. He said the Queen was delighted with everything 
and especially with the Emperor himself, who, with perfect 
knowledge of women, had taken the surest way to ingratiate 
himself with her. This it seems he began when he was in 
England, and followed it up at Paris. After his visit the 
Queen talked it all over with Clarendon, and said, "It is 
very odd ; but the Emperor knows everything I have done 
and where I have been ever since I was twelve years old ; he 
even recollects how I was dressed, and a thousand little de- 
tails it is extraordinary he should be acquainted with." She 
has never before been on such a social footing with anybody, 
and he has approached her with the familiarity of their equal 
positions, and with all the experience and knowledge of 
womankind he has acquired during his long life, passed in 
the world and in mixing with every sort of society. She 
seemed to have played her part throughout with great pro- 
priety and success. Old Jerome did not choose to make his 
appearance till just at the last moment, because he insisted 
on being treated as a king, and having the title of 3£ajeste 
given him — a pretension Clarendon would not hear of her 
yielding to. 

Septem'ber '^th. — I had a long visit from the Duke of Bed- 
ford this morning, who came to talk to me about his brother 
John, his position and prospects. He has seen John and 
heard from him in great detail all his case, and he has like- 
wise seen Clarendon and heard his and the Government's 
case. He tells me that he has never in his life suffered more 
pain than at hearing these cases and witnessing the bitter 
feelings which exist and the charges which are mutually 
made, especially between Clarendon and Lord John. The 
latter thinks he has been very ill-used by most of his former 
colleagues, but especially by Clarendon, whose conduct he 
thinks both unjust and ungrateful. Clarendon wrote to him 



1855.] THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL. 347 

while he was at Vienna in such a tone and language that 
Lord John had determined to resign his embassy and return 
home, and had actually written a letter to Clarendon for the 
purpose, but he gave up doing so partly because he felt that 
it would make a prodigious noise all over Europe and partly 
because, having consulted his brother-in-law, George Elliot, 
he prudently advised him against such a step ; but he felt 
deeply, and resented what he thought bad conduct toward 
himself. I read to the Duke all that I had written about 
John in the preceding pages, against which he had nothing 
to say. He asked his brother how he came to speak so ill 
for himself in the House of Commons, and he replied that 
he was embarrassed by the impossibility of saying everything 
that he knew, especially the fact, which I have mentioned, 
of the way in which the Emperor Napoleon determined to 
throw over Drouyn de Lhuys and to reject the Vienna pro- 
posals. This was told to John by Baudiu ; and one of the 
things he complains of is that the Cabinet never was in- 
formed of what had passed, and its members were allowed to 
suppose, like the public, that the Emperor's rejection had 
been spontaneous, instead of having been suggested and 
urged upon him by us. John bitterly feels his own position, 
hi? estrangement from his old friends, and, above all, the 
unkindness and ingratitude he thinks they have been guilty 
of toward him. He is now intent upon his own vindication, 
and is preparing to compose it with a view of giving it to the 
world, though he does not know, and it is difficult to deter- 
mine, in what shape. He seems less dissatisfied with his old 
enemy Palmerston than with any of the others, and says he 
thinks Palmerston is the best man there is at present to 
be Prime Minister. After Clarendon he most reproaches 
Charles Wood. 

September 11th. — Went to The Grove with Clarendon last 
Saturday sennight ; on Monday to Doncaster, where I had 
no time to write anything but bets in my betting-book, all 
of which I lost. On the Saturday we heard from General 
Simpson by telegraph that the assault was to take place that 
day. We were kept in suspense all Sunday, but on Monday 
morning read in the " Times " that the Malakoff was taken, 
but we had no idea then that the city with all its vast de- 
fences would fall immediately after, but I heard it the same 
night at the Huntingdon station.^ 

' [The final bombardment of Sebastopol comnionced on the morning of Sep- 



248 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

I heard a great deal from Clarendon about the royal visit 
to Paris, and details connected with it, and we talked over 
the quarrel with John Russell, at which he expressed great 
regret, though not without bitterness. Clarendon said noth- 
ing could exceed the delight of the Queen at her visit to 
Paris, at her reception, at all she saw ; and that she was 
charmed with the Emperor. They became so intimate, and 
she on such friendly terms with him, that she talked to him 
with the utmost frankness, and even discussed with him the 
most delicate of all subjects, the confiscation of the Orleans' 
property, telling him her opinion upon it. He did not 
avoid the subject, and gave ner the reasons why he thought 
himself obliged to take that course ; that he "knew all this 
wealth was employed in fomenting intrigues against his 
Government, which was so new that it was necessary to take 
all precautions to avert such dangers. She replied that, even 
if this were so, he might have contented himself with se- 
questrating the property and restoring it when he was satis- 
fied that all danger on that score was at an end. I asked 
Clarendon what he thought of the Emperor himself, and he 
said that he liked him, and he was very pleasing, but he was 
struck with his being so indolent and so excessively ignorant. 
The Prince of Wales was put by the Queen under Claren- 
don's charge, who was desired to tell him what to do in pub- 
lic, when to bow to the people, and whom to speak to. He 
said that the Princess Royal was charming, with excellent 
manners, and full of intelligence. Both the children were 
delighted with their sejour, and very sorry to come away. 
When the visit was drawing to a close, the Prince said to the 
Empress that he and his sister were both very reluctant to 
leave Paris, and asked her if she could not get leave for 
them to stay there a little longer. The Empress said she 
was afraid this would not be possible, as the Queen and the 
Prince would not be able to do without them ; to which the 
boy replied, " Not do without us ! don't fancy that, for there 
are six more of us at home, and they don't want us." The 
Emperor himself proposed to the Queen to go to the Chapel 
consecrated to the memory of the Duke of Orleans upon the 
spot where he met with his fatal accident and expired. It 

temberSth, and continued without intermission until the 8th, Tvhen the Russians 
blew up their macrazines and in the niffht evacuated the southern portion of the 
city. The intellisrenee of the fall of Sebastopoi reached England on the after- 
noon of Monday, September 10, and was received with great enthusiasm through- 
out the country.] 



1855.] MARRIAGES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. 249 

is creditable to her that she talks without g^ne or scruple 
to the Emperor about the Orleans family, making no se- 
cret of her continued intimacy with them, and with equal 
frankness to them of her relations with him. She 
wrote to the Queen Marie Amelie an account of her goincr 
to the Chapel and of the Emperor taking her there, and 
received a very amiable reply. The first thing she did on 
her return was to receive the Due and Duchesse de Mont- 
pensier. 

Clarendon told me a few things besides of no great im- 
portance, and which I am not sure that I recollect : about 
Spain, he said that matters were going on better there and 
the Government had contrived to get money — the Spaniards 
were very anxious to take part in" the war, but he had dis- 
couraged it entirely. As to Naples, that we were calling the 
Neapolitan Government to account for their recent imperti- 
nence to us, but that Palmerston and he had disagreed as to 
what should be done, Palmerston, according to his old habit, 
wanting to send ships of war to Naples and to proceed to 
violence, while he was opposed to having another Pacifico 
affair on our hands, and proposed to proceed with caution 
and quietly. 

While they were m the yacht, crossing over, Prince Albert 
had told him that there was not a word of truth in the pre- 
vailing report and belief that the young Prince of Prussia 
and the Princess Royal were fiances, that nothing had ever 
passed between the parents on the subject, and that the 
union never would take place unless the children should 
become attached to each other. There would be no mere 
political marriage. The Prince showed Clarendon all the 
correspondence which had taken place between the Emperor 
of Russia and the Prince Regent about the Holy Alliance, 
which he said was very curious, and George IV. 's letter de- 
clining to be a party to it very good indeed. These docu- 
ments were left in Lord Liverpool's papers, and fell into the 
hands of Harcourt, who married his daughter. Harcourt 
lent them to the Prince to read, but exacting a promise that 
he would not take a copy of them, and he had since repeat- 
edly pressed the Prince to return them. I told Clarendon 
they ought not to be returned, or at least that Harcourt 
ought to be desired to give them to be preserved in the Gov- 
ernment Archives, for they can in no way be considered as 
private property. Lord Liverpool's papers were for the most 



250 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, [Chap. X. 

part destroyed, but these were preserved. This is all I can 
recollect of what he told me. 

S&ptemher 23^.— At The Grove from Saturday to_ Mon- 
day ; nobody there but Keeve ; nothing very particular. 
Clarendon said Prussia was very anxious to interpose to 
renew ne-^otiations, but they would not hear of her interfer- 
ence, ancf if anything was done it could only be by Austria. 
He showed me a paper sent by Hudson with an account, very 
brief, of the state of Italy, which is in fermentation though 
not in open disturbance. " The Sicilian malcontents sent to 
the Kino; of Sardinia an offer of their crown for one of his 
sons. He replied, " You have need of a man, and a boy 
will be of no use to you." This they took for a refusal, and 
they are now thinking of a Coburg; in no case will they 
have a Murat. I forget what the Neapolitan Liberals want, 
but I doubt if the country will have either the courage or 
the i)ower to emancipate itself. 

Ssptembsr 28//i. — No fresh news, but a letter from Charles 
Windham (the hero of the Eedan), in which he gives an ac- 
count of that affair which corresponds very closely with the 
report of Euss&ll, the "Times" Commissioner. He gives a 
poor character of the generals in the Crimea, and says the 
troops, except some of the old soldiers, behaved by no means 
well. The whole thing seems to have been grievously mis- 
managed on our part.^ 

I have had much correspondence with the Duke of Bed- 
ford about Lord John and his case, which the Duke says, 
now that he has heard it all and seen the correspondence, 
he thinks much better than he had supposed, and that John 
was meditating the publication of a defence of himself, but 
could not determine in what shape it should be. I earnestly 
advised him to dissuade his brother from publishing any- 
thing:, as he could not make an effectual defence of his 
conduct without making revelations that would be held un- 
justifiable and cause all sorts of ill humor and recriminations, 
and render his position, both personal and political, worse 
than it now is. Some communications in a friendly spirit 
have taken place between Lord John and Clarendon, but 

1 [Tlie British attacls: on the Ecdan failed, while the French attaek on the 
Malakoff succeeded, to the extreme annoyance of the British army and public; 
hut in his assault Colonel Charles Windham (as he then was) displayed tiie 
most signal bravery, which in some measure redeemed the credit of the British 
forces. ' This circumstance gave him an amount of popularity and distinction 
whiclihis rank in the army and his previous services did not altogether justify.] 



1855.] GENERAL CHARLES WINDHAM. 251 

I can see that there is still existing a great deal of soreness 
and a not very cordial feeling between them. I have been 
reading Lord Grey's speech on the war, which he has pub- 
lished in a pamphlet, and I think it excellent and unanswer- 
able. I long to write something on the subject and to add 
to Grey's argument on other parts of the case. I do not care 
about the unpopularity of doing so, and am only deterred 
from taking so much trouble by feeling that it would be 
unavailing, and that to attempt to make the public listen to 
reason and take a dispassionate view of the various questions 
connected with the war on which they have been so com- 
pletely bamboozled and misled, would be like Mrs. Partington 
and her mop. 

October 2d. — I have been in correspondence lor a long 
time with Charles Windham, and had a letter from him 
written a few days after his great exploit at the Redan. I 
showed his letter to Granville, and he to Palmerston and 
Clarendon. I was glad to find every disposition to reward 
his bravery and conduct, and Henry Grenfell told me they 
had made him a general and were going to give him a di- 
vision, as Markham and Bentinck are both coming home. 
This was no more than was reasonable to expect ; but great 
was my astonishment when I was told yesterday morning 
that they were thinking of making Windham Commander- 
in-Chief, and I was asked to give any of his letters to me, 
from which extracts might be made to show to the Cabinet 
to enable them to judge of his character and talents. I 
offered to get his journal and letters, from his wife and oth- 
ers, which I did ; but at the same time I said I thought it a 
hazardous speculation to raise him per saltum from being a 
colonel and brigadier to the command of a great army. 

B said this was true, but the matter pressed and they 

did not know where to find a man. This morning I gave 
him some papers, and he then told me Simpson had resigned, 
and it was necessary to come to some immediate decision. 
Codrington would have been undoubtedly chosen if he had 
not apparently (for as yet we know very little) failed in what 
he had to do on the 8th. With regard to Windham what 
the Cabinet will do I know not, I suggested that it would 
be better to try him first in his command of a division and 
go on if possible for some time longer, but Simpson's resig- 
nation compels them to come to some immediate decision, 
and they do not like to appoint another man pro tempore. 



252 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

I still incline to the opinion that Windham's extraordinary 
promotion from so low to so high a rank, and his passing 
over the heads of such multitudes of ofiBcers, will occasion 
great jealousy, envy, heart-burning, and resentment, besides 
casting a slur on the whole service in the eyes of the world ; 
for when every general in the service is passed over, and a 
colonel appointed who has never done any but subordinate 
work, and shown extraordinary bravery and coolness, but no 
aptitude for command, because he has had no opportunity 
of so doing, every general and superior colonel now on serv- 
ice will feel himself insulted and a stigma cast upon him. 
I am not at all sure Windham may do better than any other 
man would do, but to justify such an appointment he ought 
to do far better ; and though he is a sharp fellow enough, I 
have never seen anything in him Avhich indicates real genius 
or a superior intellect. 

October 1th. — At Woburn, where the Duke and I had 
much conversation about Lord John and his position, and 
he showed me a great many of John's letters to him about 
his quarrel with the Government and the conduct of Claren- 
don to him, which he cannot forgive, though they are again 
corresponding with ostensible amity. The Duke owns that 
he does not see how John can take , any prominent part in 
public life, at least for the present, and indeed considers it 
probable that his career as a statesman is closed ; and, what 
is more, John seems to consider it so himself and to acqui- 
esce in his position, though what his secret aspirations 
may be none can tell. He has, however, determined to 
give up his house in town, which looks like retirement. I 
strongly advised that John should go to the House of Lords, 
where "he might still act a dignified and useful part ; his 
position in the House of Commons would be very anomalous 
and disagreeable, and it is not at all certain that he would 
not lose his seat in the event of an election — very doubtful 
whether he Avould be returned again for the City ; and the 
thing most to be deprecated is that he should stand and be 
defeated for that or any other place. The Duke neither 
agreed nor dissented, but he owned what I said of John's 
position was true, though he still thought he would be very 
reluctant to quit the House of Commons for ever, and retire 
to the Lords. 

On Tuesday last, after a few days' illness. Sir Eohert 
Adair died at the age of 93, having preserved his faculties. 



1835.] ADIEU TO THE TURF. 253 

and especially his remarkable memory, quite to the last. He 
was the last survivor of the intimate friends of Fox and of 
the political characters of his times. He had entertained a 
warm affection for Fox, and he preserved a boundless ven- 
eration for his memory ; and the greatest pleasure he had 
was in talking of Fox and his contemporaries, and pouring 
forth to willing circles of auditors anecdotes and reminis- 
cences of the political events with which he had been mixed 
up, or of which he had been cognizant in the course of his 
long life. This he did in a manner quite remarkable at so 
advanced an age, and he never had any difficulty in finding 
listeners to his old stories, which were always full of interest- 
ing matter, and related to the most conspicuous characters 
wiio flourished during the reigns of George III. and George IV". 

October 29lh. — All last week at Newmarket, and proba- 
bly very nearly for the last time as an owner of racehorses, 
for I have now got rid of them all, and am almost off the 
turf, after being on it more or less for about forty years. I 
am sorry that I have never kept any memoranda of my turf 
life, which might have been curious and amusing ; for I 
have known many odd characters, and lived with men of 
whom it would have been interesting to preserve some rec- 
ord. Perhaps I may one day rake together my old recollec- 
tions and trace the changes that have taken jolace in this 
racing life since I first knew it and entered into it, but I 
cannot do so now. 

Since I last wrote, the war has proceeded without any 
great events, but with the same progress and success on the 
side of the Allies which have marked the contest throughout 
and have excited my wonder. The most important of these 
successes has been the defeat of Mouravieff at Kars by the 
Turks under English officers, which, after what Clarendon 
told me, was the very last thing I expected. The death of 
Molesworth has made a difficulty for Palmerston ; I knew 
so little of him that I cannot pretend to say anything about 
him. That of Lord Wharncliffe touches me more nearly ; 
but this is more matter of private regret than of public con- 
cern, as the part he played in life was never important, 
though very honorable. The appointment of Codrington 
seems to be well taken, more perhaps because nobody can 
suggest a better choice than from any peculiar merits of the 
new Commander-in-Chief.' 

' [The Right Hon. Sir William Molesworth, Secretary of State for the Colo- 



254 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

London, November 1th. — The event of the last few days 
has been the offer of the Colonial Office to Lord Stanley and 
his refusal to take it. When Palmerston proposed it to him 
he said that he conld not give an answer without consulting 
his father, which implied that he would accept if his father 
gave his consent. He posted down to Knowsley, from whence 
he had Just come, and entered the room where Derby was 
playing at billiards, and much to his astonishment saw his 
son suddenly return. " What on earth," he cried out, "has 
brought you back so soon ? Are you going to be married, or 
what has happened to you?" Stanley said he wanted to 
speak to him, and carried him off. What passed is not 
known, but of course he advised his son to refuse office. He 
wrote to Palmerston in very becoming terms, and, 1 hear, a 
very good letter. He had,' if not consulted, certainly im- 
parted to Disraeli what passed, for Disraeli told me so. I 
think he judged wisely in declining, for it would have been 
an awkward thing to pass at once from the Opposition side 
of the House to the Treasury Bench, and take high office in 
a Cabinet without having any political or personal connec- 
tion with a single member of it, and to which he has hitherto 
been opposed generally, although upon many subjects his 
opinions have much more coincided with theirs than with 
those of the party to which he still nominally belongs. He 
is young and can afford to wait, and his position and abili- 
ties are certain before long to make him conspicuous and to 
enable him to play a very considerable part. He is exceed- 
ingly ambitious, of an independent turn of mind, very _ in- 
dustrious, and has acquired a vast amount of information. 
Not long ago, Disraeli gave me an account of him and of his 
curious opinions — exceedingly curious in a man in his con- 
dition of life and with his prospects. Last night Lord 
Strangford (George Smythe) talked to me about him, ex- 
pressed the highest opinion of his capacity and acquire- 
ments, and confirmed what Disraeli had told me of his 
notions and views even more, for he says that he is a real 
and sincere democrat, and that he would like if he could to 
prove his sincerity by divesting himself of his aristocratic 
character and even of the wealth he is heir to. How far 
this may be true I know not : if it be true, it may possibly 

nial Department, died on October 22, 1855, asred 45. John, 2d Baron Wham- 
cliife, also died on the 22d. General Sir William Codrincrton liad been ap- 
pointed to the command of the British forces in the Crimea, on the resignation 
of General Simpson.] 



1865.] COLOXIAL OFFICE PROPOSED TO LORD STANLEY. 255 

be ascribed in some dejjree to his own consciousness that the 
realization of his ideology is impossible, and at all events 
time will show whether these extreme theories will not be 
modified by circumstances and reflections. Nothing ap- 
pears to me certain but that he will play a considerable part 
for good or for evil, but I cannot pretend to guess what it 
will be. At present he seems to be more allied with Bright 
than with any other public man ; and, as his disposition 
about the war and its continuance is very much that of 
Bright, it would have been difficult for him to take office 
with Palmerston, whose whole political existence, or at least 
his power, rests on the cry for war and its active and ener- 
getic prosecution. 

London, November 12th. — I saw John Eussell on Saturday 
morning to have a talk with him about the state of affairs and 
the questions of peace and war. There still exists a great deal 
of bitterness between him and Clarendon, he thinking that 
he has been very ill used by Clarendon and others of his 
former colleagues. He is particularly sore about their al- 
lowing so many things to be said to his disadvantage con- 
cerning the Vienna negotiations which they know to be un- 
true, without saying a word to contradict them and cause 
justice to be done to him, particularly in reference to the 
matter of Austria having engaged to join if Russia refused 
her last proposals. George Gre}' denied that Austria had so 
engaged, and none of the others ever admitted it, whereas it 
was perfectly true. Lord John and I do not agree as to the 
earlier part of the question, because he was originally a party 
to the war while I was always against it. He was, however, 
rather against it quite at first, being, as he told me, with 
Aberdeen, and against Clarendon and Palmerston, who were 
all along inclined to go to war. He had been at the Mansion 
House dinner the night before, where he was very ill received, 
though he would not allow it ; he prefers to flatter himself 
that the signs of his unpopularity were not so strong and 
marked as everybody else who was present thought them. 

1 likewise saw Disraeli and had some talk with him. He 
told me that he had now nothing whatever to-do Avith the 
"Press," and that the series of articles in that paper on the 
war and in favor of peace were all written by Stanley. He 
said he had received a letter from Stanley to this effect : 
"My dear Disraeli, — I write to you in confidence to tell you 
that I have been offered and have refused the Colonial Office. 



256 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

As it is due to Lord Palmerston to keep his offer secret, I 
have told nobody of it but yourself and my father, and I 
beg you not to mention it to anybody." On receiving this 
he said he began to concoct an answer in his mind of rather 
a sentimental kind, and conveying his approbation of the 
course he had taken, but before he put pen to paper he got 

the "Times" with Stanley's letter to Sir , which was 

tantamount to a disclosure of the whole thing, on which he 
wrote instead, "Dear Stanley, — I thank you for your letter, 
but I had already received your confidential communication 
through your letter to Sir ." 

I have occasion to see Disraeli very often about 's 

affairs, about which he has been wonderfully kind and 
serviceable, and on these occasions he always enters on some 
political talk, and in this way we have got into a sort of 
intimacy such as I never thought could have taken place 
between us. 

London, November 2Uli. — After his failure with Stanley, 
Palmerston applied to Sidney Herbert, who went to Broad- 
lands, but, finding that he and Palmerston could not agree 
upon the subject of war and peace (the details of their 
disagreement I do not know), he declined the offer of the 
Colonial Office. Palmerston then sent for Labouchere, who 
accepted.^ He called on me the day after and told me he 
had been to Broadlands, that Palmerston had told him every- 
thing about the state of affairs and his own views and 
opinions, and, as he could find nothing therein to object 
to, he had accepted the office. As Labouchere is certainly 
moderate, this would indicate more moderation on the part 
of Palmerston than Sidney Herbert found in him, unless 
Labouchere and Sidney Herbert take totally dissimilar views 
of affairs. 

After this, a few days ago, I had a long conversation with 
George Lewis, who told me that France and Austria were 
endeavoring to bring about peace, and that communications 
were going on between France and our Government on the 
subject, and he said, moreover, that Palmerston was by no 
means so stiff and so bent on continuing the war as was gen- 
erally supposed. This intelligence appeared to me to explain 

1 [Tbe Eight lion. Henry Labouchere, born in 1798, a highly respected 
member of tlic Whig party, who filled many offices in Liberal Governments, 
He was created Baron Taunton on his retirement from office in 1859, and died 
in July, 1869.] 



1855.] PROPOSALS FOR PEACE. 257 

what I could not understand in his communications "with Sid- 
ney Herbert and Laboucliere ; for, if the Emperor has really 
intimated to our Government his determination to try and 
make peace, Palmerston must needs come down from his very 
high horse and evince a disposition to go along with our Im- 
perial ally, who has got the whole game in his own hands, 
and whom we must perforce follow when he is determined to 
take his own course. Then our warlike propensities may be 
probably restrained by the alarming prospect of financial 
difficulties which Lewis sees looming in the distance. He said 
to me, "I am sure I do not know how I shall provide ways 
and means next year, for the enormously high prices will be 
a great blow to consumption, and the money market is in a 
very ticklish state." I said, "You will have to trust to a great 
loan, and ten per cent, income tax ;" to which he assented. 
They have now patched up the Government, by getting Baines 
to take the Duchy of Lancaster with a seat in the Cabinet — 
a very respectable man, who cannot speak, and who will be 
of no use to them. Neither he nor Labouchere will add 
much to their strength, but they are both very unexception- 
able appointments. I think that, in spite of the undimin- 
ished violence of the press, the prevailing opinion is that there 
is the beginning of a change in the public mind, and an in- 
cipient desire for peace ; and I agree with Disraeli, who 
thinks that, when once the current has fairly turned, it will 
run with great rapidity the other way. 

November 'i'lth. — At length there really does appear to be 
a prospect of putting an end to this odious war, and my 
conjectures of a few days ago are assuming the shape of 
realities. Yesterday morning I met George Lewis in the 
Park and turned back and walked with him to the door of 
his office, when he told me the exact state of affairs. I had 
received a letter from the Duke of Bedford in the morning, 
who said that Charles Wood, who was at Woburn, had told 
him the statement in the " Press " a Aveek ago was so substan- 
tially accurate that they must, he thought, have received 
their information from some French official source. This 
was in itself confirmatory of all I had already inferred and 
believed. Lewis's story was this : The Austrians have framed 
a proposal for peace which they offer to send to Russia, and, 
if she refuses it, Austria engages to join the Allies and to 
declare war. The Emperor Napoleon agrees with Austria, 
and is resolved not to go on with the war if peace can be 



258 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

arranged on the Austrian terms. This resolution he has 
coram nnicated to us, and invited us to accede thereto ; Wa- 
lewski's letters are not merely pressing, but even peremp- 
tory. It is in fact a second edition of the Vienna Conference 
and proposals, with this difference, that, while on the last 
occasion the Emperor knocked under to us and reluctantly 
agreed to go on with the war, he is now determined to go 
on with it no longer, and requires that we should defer to 
his wishes. Our Government are aware that they have no 
alternative, and that nothing is left for them but to acquiesce 
with a good grace and make the best case they can for them- 
selves here, the case being that the Emperor is determined 
to make peace, and that we cannot carry on the war alone. 
This was the amount of Lewis' information, to which he 
added the expression of his disgust at the pitiful figure we 
cut in the affair, being obliged to obey the commands of 
Lonis Napoleon, and, after our insolence, swagg:er, and bra- 
vado, to submit to terms of peace which we have already 
scornfully rejected ; all which humiliation, he justly said, was 
the consequence of our plunging into war without any reason 
and in defiance of all prudence and sound policy. After"ward 
I saw Charles Villiers and had a talk with him. He told me 
Clarendon had been sent for on Sunday to Windsor in a great 
hurry to meet Palmerston there. The Queen had received a 
letter from the Emperor, brought by the Duke of Cambridge, 
which no doubt contained in a private and friendly shape to 
her the communications which Walewski had already made 
officially to the Government and she wanted to know what 
answer she should send to it. Charles Villiers told me that 
Palmerston had already thrown out a feeler to the Cabinet 
to ascertain if they would be willing to carry on the war 
without France, but this was unanimously declined. I can 
hardly imagine that even Palmerston really contemplated 
such a desperate course. 

November 29th. — I met Sidney Herbert last night. He 
seems to know what is going on and thinks we shall have 
peace ; he only doubts whether the terms will be such as 
Russia will accept, for he is not convinced, as I am, that 
Austria has already settled that with Russia. He told me 
that, when Palmerston offered him office, he had not received 
the French communication, and was ignorant that it was 
coming. 

December Uh. — At The Grange the last four days, where 



1855.] THE TERMS rROPOSED TO RUSSIA. 259 

I found everybody in total ignorance of what is passing about 
peace, except Sidney Herbert, who told me that the plan is 
neutralisation. On coming back yesterday I met Lord 
Malmesbury just come from Paris ; he is supposed to be the 
person who supplied all its information to the "Press" 
paper, and I believe it was he. He confirmed the Emperor's 
desire for peace, but thought it very doubtful whether Rus- 
sia would accept the terms of the Allies. He told me like- 
wise that P^lissier has sent word he is in a fix, as he cannot 
advance or expel the Russians from their positions ; and 
James Macdunald told me the Duke of Cambridge is going 
again to Paris to represent us at a grand council of war to 
be held there, to decide on future operations. If it were not 
that the Allies seem infallible and invincible, and the Rus- 
sians unable to accomplish anything, offensive or defensive, 
I should augur very ill from this council of war, for nothing 
can b3 worse thai to have a set of men at Paris forming 
plans to be executed by another set in the Crimea who have 
had no share in the deliberations. 

This morning the Duke of Bedford writes me word that 
Westmorland tells him he has heard from Clarendon the 
state of affairs, and the answer we have sent to France, and 
he augurs ill of peace, as he thinks there can be no agree- 
ment with Russia on such terms ; and the "Morning Post," 
which has long been quite silent about war or peace, has 
this morning an article which is evidently a regular Palmer- 
stonian manifesto, decidedly adverse to any hope of peace, 
for it is certain that Russia will continue the war, coute que 
coitte, rather than submit to such conditions as the "Morn- 
ing Post" says we are to impose on her. I am persuaded 
Palmerston and Clarendon will do all they can to prevent 
peace being made on any moderate terms, and the only hope 
is that the Emperor Napoleon may take the matter into his 
own hands and employ a douce violence to compel us to give 
way. 

December Mh. — I met Charles Villiers last night, who 
told me a good deal of what is going on, and cleared up 
some matters. The Austrian proposal transmitted here by 
the Emperor Napoleon was considered by the Cabinet and 
sent back with amendments — that is, it was made more 
stringent. The Emperor consented to send it so amended 
to Vienna, and it remains to be seen what course Austria will 
take — whether she will send it in its present shape to Russia 



260 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

or adhere to her own edition, and whether, if she does send 
it, she will (supposing it to be rejected) join the Allies and 
declare war. The latter, I think, she will not do, nor be 
bound to do. Next is the question what the Emperor Na- 
poleon will do if Austria declines to adopt the amended ver- 
sion, or if Eussia should reply she would take the original 
proposal, but not our amendments. The Emperor is cer- 
tainly very anxious to make peace, and when he is bent upon 
a thing he generally does it, and my own opinion and hope 
is that he will refuse to give way to us now as he did last 
May. It is universally admitted that every man in France 
desires peace ardently. There is, Charles Villiers tells me, 
great uneasiness among Palmerston's adherents, and some 
idea that, if peace cannot be had on the terms he has insisted 
on, he will be no party to making it, and if the majority of 
the Cabinet are for taking the original terms proposed, sup- 
posing the Emperor Napoleon again to press their acceptance, 
that he will resign, throw himself on the popular enthusiasm 
for the war, and leave his colleagues to make an unpopular 
peace. If Palmerston was forty instead of seventy he would 
probably do this ; but he has not time to wait for fresh com- 
binations and to speculate on distant chances, so he will 
probably consent to make peace if he is obliged by France to 
do so, and trust to fortune to enable him to reconcile Parlia- 
ment and the country to it. This is rendered more likely by 
Disraeli having made a communication to the Government 
that he and Stanley will be ready to support any peace they 
may now make. 

December 6th. — I saw George Lewis yesterday, who told 
me the state of affairs so far as he recollects it ; but it is evi- 
dent that he takes but a secondary interest in the details 
of diplomacy, however anxious he may be about the results, 
and what passed shows the extreme difficulty of keeping 
clear of mistakes, even when one's information is derived, 
from the best sources. He said he did not think Eussia 
would accept the offered terms, and Clarendon thought not 
also. The terms which it will be most difficult for her to 
swallow are the neutralization of the Black Sea, which as 
worked out is evidently worse than limitation, for she is to 
have no fortress and no arsenal there, so that she will, in 
fact, be quite defenceless, while the other Powers can at any 
time collect fleets in the Bosphorus and attack her coasts 
when they please. Then she is to cede half Bessarabia to 



1855.] M. DE CAVOURAT WINDSOR. 261 

the Turks, including the fortress of Ismail, the famous con- 
quest of Souvaroff when he wrote to the Empress Catherine, 
'* L'orgueilleuse Ismailoff est a vos pieds ;" and they are not 
to rej)air Bomarsund, or erect any fortress on the Aland 
Isles. The alterations we made in the scheme sent to us 
■were not important, and what surprised me much was, the 
terms, instead of being tendered by Austria, were concocted 
at Paris by Walewski and the Emperor — at least so Walewski 
asserts, but there must I think be some incorrectness in this, 
for it is impossible to doubt that the Emperor and Austria 
really concerted them between themselves, though Walewski 
may have had a hand in the matter in some way. However, 
the terms are gone or going directly to St. Petersburg. I 
earnestly hope they may be accepted, be they what they may. 
Kussia is to be asked whether she will take them Yes or No, 
and, upon the preliminaries being signed, hostilities will 
cease. I asked if Eussia might not accept as a basis, and 
negotiate as to modification and details, but Lewis professed 
not to understand how this is, or whether her acceptance 
generally would or not bind her to all the conditions precise- 
ly as they are set forth. He knows nothing in fact of diplo- 
macy and its niceties and operations. 

Lord John Russell met Clarendon at Windsor Castle,^ 
but refused to hear what Clarendon offered to tell him of the 
state of the negotiation ; he thought he should compromise 
his own independent action if he did. He says, *' Were peace 
to be made on the four points newly explained and enlarged, 
I would do nothing but a])plaud and support." The only 
men Lord John communicated with at Windsor were Cavour 
and Azeglio. He writes : *' I asked Cavour what was the 
language of the Emperor of the French ; he said it was to 
this effect : France had made great efforts and sacrifices, she 
would not continue them for the sake of conquering the 
Crimea ; the alternative was such a peace as can now be 
had by means of Austria, or an extension of the war for 
Poland," etc. The Sardinians, Ministers and King, are 
openly and warmly for the latter course. I suspect Palmer- 
ston would wish the war to glide imperceptibly into a war 
of nationalities, as it is called, but would not like to profess 
it openly now. I am convinced such a war might suit Na- 

' [The King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel, arrived in Enjland on the SOth 
November, accompanied by his Minister, M. de Cavour. Lord Clarendon aud 
Lord John Russell were invited to Windsor to meet the King.] 



232 EEIGX OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

poleon and the King of Sardinia, but would be very danger- 
ous for us in many ways. Cavour says if peace is made with- 
out anything being done for Italy, there willbe a revolution 
there. " Chirendon is incredulous. 

London, December 11th. — I met Clarendon at the Trav- 
ellers' on Friday evening, and had a talk with him. He did 
not seem inclined to enter much into the question of peace 
and war, but he told me that Buol declared most solemnly 
that he had had no communication with Eussia about the 
terms, and that he had only slight hopes that peace might 
be made. Of the terms themselves Clarendon did not say a 
word. He talked a great deal about the King of Sardinia, 
and gave me an account of his conversations both with the 
King and Cavour. He thinks well of the King, and that he 
is intslligent, and he has a very high opinion indeed of 
Cavour, and was especially struck with his knowledge of 
England, and our Constitution and constitutional history. I 
was much amused, after all the praises that have been 
lavished on Sardinia for the noble part she has played and 
for taking up armi to vindicate a great principle in so un- 
selfish a manner, that she has after all a keen view to her 
own interest, and wants some solid pudding as well as so 
much empty praise. The King asked Clarendon what the 
Allies meant to do for him, and whether he might not expect 
some territorial advantage in return for his services. Claren- 
don told him this was out of the question, and that, in the 
state of their relations with Austria, they could hold out no 
such expectation ; and he put it to the King, supposing 
negotiations for peace were to take place, and he wished his 
pretensions to be put forward by us, what he would himself 
suggest that a British Minister could say for him ; and the 
King had the candor to say he did not know what answer 
to give. Cavour ui'ged the same thing, and said the war had 
already cost them forty millions of francs, instead of twenty- 
five which they had borrowed for it and was the original 
estimate, and i:hey could only go on with it by another loan 
and fresh taxes, and he did not know how he should propose 
these to the chambers without having something advan- 
tageous to offer to his own country, some Italian acquisition. 
They would ask for what object of their's the war was carried 
on, and what they had to gain for all their sacrifices and 
exertions. Clarendon said they must be satisfied with the 
glory they had acquired and the high honor their conduct 



1855.] THE KING OF SARDINIA. 263 

had conferred on them ; but Cavonr, while he said he did 
not repent the part they had taken, thought his countrymen 
woxild be very little satisfied to have spent so much money 
and to continue to spend more without gaining some Italian 
object. Tliey complained that Austria had, without any 
right, for along time occupied a part of the Papal territory, 
and suggested she should be compelled to retire from it ; but 
Clnrendon reminded him that France had done the same, 
and that this was a very ticklish question to stir. 

The King and his people are far better satisfied with their 
reception here than in France, where, under much external 
civility, there was very little cordiality, the Emperor's inti- 
mate relations with Austria rendering him little inclined 
toward the Piedmontese. Here the Queen was wonderfully 
cordial and attentive ; she got up at four in the morning to 
see him depart. His Majesty appears to be frightful in per- 
son, but a great, strong, burly, athletic man, brusque in his 
manners, unrefined in his conversation, very loose in his 
conduct, and very eccentric in his habits. AVhen he was at 
Paris his talk in society amused or terrified everybody, but 
here he seems to have been more guarded. It was amusing 
to see all the religious societies hastening with their ad- 
dresses to him, totally forgetting that he is the most de- 
bauched and dissolute fellow in the woi'ld ; but the fact of 
his being excommunicated by the Pope, and his waging war 
with the ecclesiastical power in his own country, covers every 
sin against morality, and he is a great hero with the Low 
Church people and Exeter Hall. My brother-in-law said 
that he looked at Windsor more like a chief of the Heruli or 
Longobardi than a modern Italian prince, and the Duchess 
of Sutherland declared that, of all the Knights of the Garter 
she had seen, he was the only one who seemed as if he would 
have the best of it with the Dragon. 

My hopes of peace wax fainter. Everybody seems to 
think there is no chance of Russia accepting our terms, or of 
her proposing any that the Allies would accept. Lewis told 
me yesterday evening that he expected nothing, and that 
Russia had now made known (but in what way he did not 
say) that she was disposed to treat. Meanwhile Palmerston 
continues to put articles in the " Morning Post" full of ar- 
rogance and jactance, and calculated to raise obstacles to 
peace. I told Lewis so, and he said it was very foolish, and 
that he held very different language in the Cabinet, but this 



264 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

is only like what he did in '41, when he used to agree to 
certain things with his colleagues and then put violent arti- 
cles in the " Morning Chronicle," totally at variance with 
the views and resolutions of the Cabinet. Labouchere told 
me that he thought the condition of the cession of Ismail 
ought never to have entered into the terms proposed to 
Eussia. 

Decemler lUh. — My hopes of peace, never very sanguine, 
are now completely dashed, for Lewis told me last night that 
he thought the terms were at last pretty well agreed upon 
between England, France, and Austria. I was greatly sur- 
prised, for I thought they had been agreed upon long ago, 
and must be by this time on their way to St. Petersburg. I 
said so ; and he replied, " Oh no, they are only just on the 
point of being settled." It was quite extraordinary, he said, 
how eager Palmerston was for pursuing the war. I gathered 
from him that our Government has been vehemently urging 
that of France, through Cowley, to be firm in pressing the 
most stringent terms on Eussia, and particularly not to 
consent to any negotiation, and to compel her to accept or 
refuse. I said this was not reasonable, and that we had no 
right to propose the terms as an ultimatum. That, he 
replied, was exactly what we were doing, that Cowley was 
very urgent with the Emperor, who appeared to be intimi- 
dated by him, and that he was evidently very much in awe 
of England, and afraid of having any difference with us. I 
said I could not believe that the Emperor would not leave 
himself a loophole, and if, as was most probable, Eussia de- 
clined the terms, but offered to negotiate, that he would 
agree to that course, which, however, Lewis clearly thought 
he would not do against our inclination. I was greatly sur- 
prised to hear this, because I had a strong impression that 
the Emperor, when he really desired anything very much (as 
I believe that he did this piece), would obstinately persevere 
in it ; and it seems so obviously his interest to gratify his 
own people rather than to be led by this country, that I was 
persuaded he never would consent to this proposal being un 
dernier mot, and thus to ensure the failure of the attempt. 
Palmerston, who is the most obstinate man alive in pressing 
any object he has once set his mind upon, was sure to press 
the French Government with the utmost vehemence and 
pertinacity as soon as he found there was a chance of making 
them yield to his will. 



1856.] MACAULAY.'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 265 

December Yltli. — This morning the two new volumes of 
MacauUiy's History came forth. The circumstances of this 
publication are, I believe, unprecedented in literary history ; 
25,000 copies are given out, and the weight of the books is 
fifty-six tons. The interest and curiosity which it excites 
are prodigious, and they afford the most comjjlete testimony 
to his immense popularity and the opinion entertained by 
the world of his works already published. His ju'ofits will 
be very great, and he will receive them in various shapes. 
But there is too much reason to apprehend that these may 
be the last volumes of his history that the world will see, 
still more that they are the last that will be read by me and 
people of my standing. Six years have elajised since the 
appearance of the first volumes, and these two only advance 
about ten years. He announced at the outset that he meant 
to bring down the history of England to a period within the 
memory of persons still living, but his work has already so 
much expanded, and of course will do so still more from the 
accumulation of materials as he advances, that at his present 
rate of progress he must live much beyond the ordinary du- 
ration of human life, and retain all his faculties as long, to 
have any chance of accomplishing his original design ; and 
he is now in such a precarious state of health that in all 
human probability he will not live many years. It is melan- 
choly to think that so gifted an intellect should be arrested 
by premature decay, and such a magnificent undertaking 
should be overthrown by physical infirmities, and be limited 
to the proportions of a splendid fragment. He is going 
to quit Parliament and to reside in the neighborhood of 
London. 

This morning the ''Morning Post" has published the 
terms which are offered by the Allies and are now on their 
way from Vienna to St. Petersburg. They were already 
pretty well known, but it is the first time that Palmerston 
(for the article is evidently his own) has announced them so 
openly and distinctly, and they state totidem verbis that it 
is an Ultimatum which is sent to St. Petersburg. I believe 
this course to be unprecedented, and it is certainly unfair. 
If Russia had applied to the Allies and expressed a desire 
for peace, if she had asked them on what terms they would 
consent to terminate the war, it would have been quite fair 
and reasonable that they should have stated the precise con- 
ditions, adding if they pleased that they would consent to 

12 



266 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOKIA. [Chap. X. 

no others and to no change whatever in them, though it 
may be doubted if it would be wise to be thus peremptory. 
But to send to Eussia and propose to her to make peace, 
and accompany the proposal with an Ultimatum and an an- 
nouncement that they would listen to no remonstrances or 
suggestions, much less any alterations, and that she must 
say Yes or No at once, is a stretch of arrogance and dicta- 
tion not justified by the events of the war and the relative 
conditions of the belligerents, or by any usage or precedent 
that I ever heard of. 

Eeports are very rife of the distressed state of Eussia and 
of her inability to make head any longer against the Allies, 
but very little is really known of the condition of the coun- 
try, of its remaining resources, and of the disposition of the 
people. Nobody can doubt that the terms are deeply humil- 
iating to the pride of such a Power, which has been long ac- 
customed to stand m so high a position and hold such lofty 
language ; and if she consents to accept the offered terms, 
it must be that her enormous losses have really incapacited 
her for going on with the war, and that her Government is 
conscious that the next campaign will be still more disas- 
trous to her than the two preceding ones have been. I have 
very little doubt that Palmerston has hastened to publish 
these terms in hopes that they may find acceptance with a 
considerable part of the public here, and that they may the 
more tightly bind the Emperor Napoleon, and, in the event 
of Eussia sending any conditional acceptance and proposing 
to treat, that he may be unable to enter into any negotiation 
whatever. It has surprised me that he should have so com- 
pletely given way to Palmerston as he has done. 

December 21st. — The poet Eogers died two days ago at the 
age of 93. I hav^e known him all my life, and at times lived 
in a good deal of intimacy with him, but for some years past 
he had so great an aversion to me that I kept away from him 
and never saw anything of him.^ He was an old man when 
I first made his acquaintance between thirty and forty years 
ago, or probably more. He was then very agreeable, though 
peculiar and eccentric ; he was devoured by a morbid vanity, 
and could not endure any appearance of indifference or 

1 [Samuel Eogers, the author of the Pleasures of Memory (which was pub- 
lished in 1792), was born at Stoke Newington 'in 1762. His father was a 
banker, and he remained a partner in the bank all his life. He died on Decem- 
ber 18, 1855.J 



1855.] FRENCH MINISTERS. 267 

slight in society. He was extremely touchy, and always 
wanted to be flattered, but above all to be listened to, very 
angry and mortified Avhen he was not the principal object in 
society, and provoked to death when the uproarious merri- 
ment of Sydney Smith or the voluminous talk of Macaulay 
overwhelmed him and engrossed the company ; he had a 
great friendship nevertheless for Sydney Smith, but he never 
liked Macaulay. I never pretended, or could pretend, to be 
a rival to him, but I was not a patient and attentive listener 
to him, and that was what affronted him and caused his dis- 
like to me as well as to any one else of whom he had the 
same reason to complain. His voice was feeble, and it has 
been said that his bitterness and caustic remarks arose from 
the necessity of his attracting attention by the pungency of 
his conversation. He was undoubtedly a very clever and ac- 
complisiied man, with a great deal of taste and knowledge of 
the world, in the best of which he had passed his life. He 
was hospitable, generous, and charitable, with some weak- 
nesses, many merits, and large abilities, and he was the last 
survivor of the generation to which he belonged. 

The Grove, December 23d. — Came here for Christmas. 
No other guests but the family. We have had some talk 
about the peace propositions and other odds and ends. 
Clarendon told me that Walewski and Persigny are bitter 
enemies, and their estrangement the greater because Wa- 
lewski is a corrupt jobber and speculator, and Persigny an 
honest man. When Drouyn de Lhuys resigned the Foreign 
Office, much to the Emperor's annoyance and regret, he did 
not know where to find a man, and he determined to ap- 
point Walewski because he knew not whom else to take. 
Not choosing to send the offer to him through Drouyn, he 
employed Cowley, and requested him to telegraph in cypher 
to Clarendon a request that Cowley would send for Walewski 
and communicate to him the Emperor's intentions. A curi- 
ous shift to be reduced to, but throughout the Eastern Ques- 
tion Cowley has acted the part of Foreign Minister to the 
Emperor almost as much as that of Ambassador. 

Lewis this morning recapitulated to me the exact cir- 
cumstances of the overtures from France about peace. It 
arrived here on a Saturday ; was submitted to the Queen on 
Sunday, who approved of it ; on Monday (or Tuesday) it was 
read to the Cabinet, when no discussion took place, but 
Palmerston shortly said, without giving any reasons, that he 



268 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

thought we must agree to the proposal, which was generally 
concurred in. The next day there was another Cabinet, 
when they examined in detail all the articles and discussed 
them. A few alterations were made, none of which were of 
any importance except the Bomarsund question. The ces- 
sion of Bessarabia and the neutralization of the Black Sea 
both formed part of the original proposal, and the latter was 
particularly insisted upon, and reasoned out at considerable 
length by France, for it turns out that the Emperor has 
•never had -so much in view the object of making peace (not 
expecting, nor ever having expected, that these proposals 
would be accepted) as the object of securing the active co- 
operation of Austria, which he expects to do. Austria en- 
gages, if Russia refuses the conditions, to put an end to dip- 
lomatic relations between the two Empires, and Napoleon 
thinks this cannot fail to end in hostilities, and to this ex- 
tension of the alliance he looks for bringing the war to a con- 
clusion. He thinks, moreover, that, when Austria has de- 
clared war, Eussia will attack her defenceless frontier, and 
that as any attack upon Austria will compel the whole of 
Germany to assist her and to take part in the war against 
Russia, this offer will lead to Prussia and the whole of the 
German States being engaged on the side of the Allies, and 
that such a confederacy cannot fail to bring the war to a 
successful issue, because Russia would be absolutely incapable 
of offering any resistance to it. This is a new view of the 
policy and motives of France, but I very much doubt if the 
whole of the Emperor's scheme will be realized. Even 
though Austria may take up arms, it is probable that Russia 
will act strictly on the defensive, and will avoid giving any 
cause to the German States to depart from their neutrality. 
We both agreed that the conduct of Austria is quite inex- 
plicable, and that Russia will never forgive her for the part 
she has acted and is acting now. 

The Grove, December 24.th. — George Lewis and I have 
been walking and talking together all the morning. He is 
fully as pacific as I am, and entertains exactly the same 
thoughts that I do, of the egregious folly of the war, of the 
delusion under which the English nation is laboring, and of 
the wickedness of the press in practising upon the popular 
credulity in the way it has done. He seems to like to talk to 
me on this subject, because he can talk freely to me, which 
he could hardly do with any of his own colleagues, still less 



1855.] TURKEY A CYPHER. 269 

in any other society. This morning he again recurred to 
the circumstances of the negotiations now going on, and be 
gave me an account of the transaction which puts the whole 
thing in a very ridiculous light, which would be very comical 
if it were not so very tragical. ''Think," he said, "that this 
is a war carried on for the independence of Turkey, and we, 
the Allies, are bound to Turkey by mutual obligations not to 
make peace but by common consent and concurrence. Well, 
we have sent an offer of peace to Russia of which the follow- 
ing are among the terms : We propose that Turkey, who pos- 
sesses one half of the Black Sea coast, shall have no ships, no 
ports, and no arsenals in that sea ; and then there are con- 
ditions about the Christians who are subjects of Turkey, and 
others about the mouths of the Danube, to which part of the 
Turkish dominions are contiguous. Now in all these stipu- 
lations so intimately concerning Turkey, for whose independ- 
ence we are fighting, Turkey is not allowed to have any 
voice whatever, nor has she ever been allowed to be made ac- ■ 
quainted with what is going on, except through the news- 
papers, where the Turkish Ministers may have read what is 
passing, like other people. When the French and Austrian 
terms were discussed in the Cabinet, at the end of the dis- 
cussion some one modestly asked wliether it would not be 
proper to communicate to Musurus (the Turkish Ambassador 
in London) what was in agitation and what had been agreed 
upon, to which Clarendon said he saw no necessity for it 
whatever ; and indeed that Musurus had recently called 
upon him, when he had abstained from giving him any in- 
formation whatever of what was going on. Another time, 
somebody suggesting in the Cabinet that we were bound to 
Turkey by treaty not to make peace without her consent, 
Palmerston, who is a great stickler for Turkey, said very 
quietly that there would be no difficulty on that score ; in 
point of fact, the Turk evidently 

' Stands like a cypher in the great account.' " 

Tlie Grove, December 2Qth. — Since I have been here 
Clarendon has resumed all his old habits of communication 
and confidence with me, has told me everything and shown 
me everything that is interesting and curious. I wish I 
could remember it all. Such fragments as have remained in 
my memory I will jot down here as they recur to me. Here 
are letters from Seymour at Vienna describing his good re- 



270 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. X. 

ception there, gracious from the Court, and cordially civil 
from the great society, especially from Metternich who seems 
to have given the mot (Vordre. Metternich talked much to 
Seymour of his past life and recollections, ccmjilimented him 
for his reports of conversations with the Emperor Nicholas, 
and raid that many years ago the Emperor had talked to him 
(Metternich) about Turkey in the same strain, and used the 
same expression about "lemalade" and 'Thomme malade," 
when Metternich asked him " Est-ce que Votre Majeste en 
parle comme son medecin ou comme son heritier ? " Also 
letters from Bloorafield (Berlin) and from Buchanan (Copen- 
hagen) with different opinions as to the j)robability of Eussia 
accepting or refusing — the former for, the second against ; 
some curious letters from Cowley, full of his indignation 
against Walewski ; the quarrels of Persigny and Walewski ; 
the perplexity of the Emperor, his desire for peace, his hopes 
that Eussia may lend a favorable ear to the proposals ; 
Cowley's suspicions of Walewski, and in a smaller degree of 
the Emperor himself, especially of His Majesty's communi- 
cations with Seebach, the Saxon Minister, and not impossibly 
through him with St, Petersburg. 

A "curious anecdote showing the strange terms the parties 
concerned are on : One day Cowley was with Walewski (at 
the time the question of terms was going on between France 
and Austria) and the courier from Vienna was announced. 
Walewski begged Cowley, who took up his hat, not to go 
away, and said he should see what the courier brought. He 
opened the despatches and gave them to Cowley to read, 
begging him not to tell the Emperor he had seen them. In 
the'afternoon Cowley saw the Emperor, who had then got 
the despatches ; the "^Emperor also gave them to Cowley to 
read, desiring him not to let Walewski know he had shown 
them to him ! 

There has been a dreadful rixe between Walewski and 
Persig-ny. I have forgotten exactly the particular causes, 
but the other day Persigny went over to Paris partly to 
complain of Walewski to the Emperor. He would not go 
near Walewski, and told the Emperor he should not ; the 
Emperor, however, made them both meet in his Cabinet the 
next day, when a violent scene took place between them, 
and Persigny said to Walewski before his face all that he 
had before said behind his back ; and he had afterward a 
very long conversation with the Emperor, in which he told 



1855.] AUSTRIA PRESENTS THE TERMS TO RUSSIA. 271 

him plainly what danger he was in from the corruption and 
bad ciiaracter of his entourage, that lie had never had any- 
thing about him but adventurers who were bent on making 
their own fortunes by every sort of infamous agiotage and 
speculation, by which the Imperial Crown was placed in 
imminent danger. ** I myself," Persigny said, '' am nothing 
but an adventurer, who have passed through every sort of 
vicissitude ; but at all events people have discovered that I 
have clean hands and do not bring disgrace on your Govern- 
ment, like so many others, by my profligate dishonesty." 
" Well," said the Emperor, "but what am I to do ? What 
remedy is there for such a state of things ? " Persigny re- 
plied that he had got the remedy in his head, but that the 
time was not come yet for revealing his ideas on the subject. 
As we went to town, we talked over the terms proposed 
to Eussia. Clarendon said he could not understand the 
policy of Austria nor what she was driving at. 8he had 
entered very heartily into ])lans of a compulsory and hostile 
character against Russia, who would never forgive her, espe- 
cially for proposing the cession of Bessarabia. I said I 
tJiought the most objectionable item of their propositions 
(and I believed the most unprecedented) was the starting by 
making it an Ultimatum. He replied that it was Austria 
Avho tendered the Ultimatum, and that it was not exactly so, 
the sharp edge having been rounded ofl: by the mode to be 
adopted, which was as follows : Esterhazy was to communi- 
cate the project to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg, and say he 
had reason, to believe that the Allies would be willing to 
make peace on those terms ; he was then to wait nine days. 
If in that time the Russian Government replied by a positive 
negative, he was, as soon as he got this notification, to quit 
St. Petersburg with all his embassy ; if no answer was re- 
turned at the end of nine days, he was to signify that his 
orders were to ask for an answer in ten days, and if at the 
end thereof the answer was in the negative, or there was no 
answer, he was to come away, so that there was to be no 
Ultimatum in the first instance. "But," I said, "what if 
Russia proposed some middle course and offered to negoti- 
ate ?" "His instructions were not to agree to this." 
" Well," said I, " but when you abstain from calling this an 
Ultimatum, it is next to impossible that Russia should not 
propose to negotiate, and if she does beg that her proposal 
may be conveyed to the Allies before everything is closed, it 



272 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. 

will be very difficult to refuse this ; and is it not probable 
that France and Austria will both vote for entering into 
pourparlers ; and, if they do, can you refuse ? He seemed 
struck with this, and owned that it was very likely to oc- 
cur, and that, if it did, we should be obliged to enter into 
negotiation. So probable does this contingency appear, that 
there has already been much discussion as to who shall go 
from hence to the Congress, if there is one. I said he had 
much better go himself. He expressed great dislike to the 
idea, but said the Queen and Prince wished him to go, 
and that Cowley urged him also, and was desirous of going 
with him. I see he has made up his mind to prevent any 
negotiation if he can, and, if it is unavoidable, to take it in 
hand. 

This afternoon Persigny arrived from Paris and came di- 
rectly to the Foreign Office. The Emperor had given him 
an account of his interview with M. de Seebach,^ who had 
gone off directly afterward vid Berlin to St. Petersburg. 
The Emperor told him to do all he could to induce the Eus- 
sian Government to consent to the terms, and to assure them 
that, if they did not, it would be long enough before they 
would have any other chance of making peace ; that he 
wished for peace, but that above everything else he was de- 
sirous of maintaining unimpaired his alliance and friendship 
with England ; that England had most fairly and in a very 
friendly spirit entered into his difficulties and his wishes ; 
that she was a constitutional country with a Government re- 
sponsible to Parliament, and that he was bound in honor to 
enter in like manner into the obligations and necessities of 
this Government. They had had some differences of opinion 
which were entirely reconciled ; they were now agreed as one 
man, and no power on earth should induce him to separate 
himself from England or to take any other line than that to 
which he had bound himself in conjunction with her. This 
announcement, which the Emperor made with great energy, 
carried consternation to the mind of Seebach, and he re- 
solved to lose no time in getting to St. Petersburg to make 
known the Emperor's intentions. 

It is thus evident that the Emperor's mind is divided 
between his anxiety to make peace and his determination to 
have no difference with England ; but his desire for j)eace 

1 [M. de Seebach -was the Saxon Minister in Paris, tkrough wliom many of 
these communications passed.] 



1855.]- LORD PALMERSTON'S POSITION. 273 

must be great when, as Clarendon assures me, it -was not 
without difficulty that he was deterred from ordering his 
army away from the Crimea. The feeling here toward the 
Emperor seems to be one of liking and reliance, not unac- 
companied with doubt and suspicion. He is not exempt 
from the influence of his entourage, though he is well aware 
how corrupt that is, and he listens willingly to Cowley and 
to whatever the English Government and the Queen say to 
him, but his own people eternally din into his ears that we 
are urging him on to take a part injurious to his own and to 
French interests for our own purposes, and because our 
Government is itself under the influence of a profligate press 
and a deluded people ; and although he knows that those 
who tell him this are themselves working for their own pri- 
vate interests, he knows also that there is a great deal of 
truth in what they say. His own position is very strange, 
insisting upon being his own Minister and directing every- 
thing, and at the same time from indolence and ignorance 
incapable of directing affairs himself, yet having no confi- 
dence in those he employs. The consequence is that a great 
deal is ill done, much not done at all, and a good deal done 
that he knows nothing about, and he is surrounded with 
quarrels, jealousies, and struggles for influence and power 
both between his own Ministers and between them and the 
foreign diplomatists at his Court. 

We have had a good deal of talk about Palmerston. 
Clarendon says nothing can go on better than he and Palm- 
erston do together. They seldom meet except in the Cabi- 
net, and their communications go on by notes between Down- 
ing Street and Piccadilly. Palmerston, much more moderate 
and reasonable than he used to be, sometimes suggests things or 
expressions in despatches, which Clarendon always adopts or 
declines according to his own ideas, and Palmerston never in- 
sists. Palmerston is now on very good terms with the Queen, 
which is, though he does not know it, greatly attributable to 
Clarendon's constant endeavors to reconcile her to him, always 
telling her everything likely to ingratiate Palmerston with 
her, and showing her any letters or notes of his calculated to 
please her ; but he says it is impossible to conceive the hatred 
with which he is regarded on the Continent, particularly all 
over Germany. An agent of his (Clarendon's) who, he says, 
has supplied him with much useful information, has reported 
to him that he finds the old feeling of antipathy to Palmer- 



274 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

ston as strong and as general as ever, and that it is as much 
on the part of the people as of the Governments, both think- 
ing they have been deceived and thrown over by him. 



CHAPTER XL 



France and Prussia— The Emperor's Speech — Faint Hopes of Peace— Favorable View of 
the Policy of Russia— Progress ot the Negotiations— Eussia accepts the Terms of 
Peace -The Acceptance explained — Popular Feeling in Favor of the War — Lord Strat- 
ford and General Williams— Mr. Dlsraeh's Prospects — Meeting of Parliament — Baron 
Parke's Life Peerage — The Debate on the Address— Debate on Lite Peerages — Report 
on the SufFerinas of the Army — Strained Relations with France — Lord Clarendon goes 
to the Congress at Paris — Opening of the Conference— Sabbatarianism- -Progress of 
the Negotiations— Kars — NicolaiefiF— The Life Peerage Question — Blunders and Weak- 
ness of the Government— A Visit to Paris — Count Orioflf's View of the War — Lord 
Cowley on the Negotiations — Princess Lieven on the War — An Evening at the Tuile- 
ries — Opening of the Legislative Chamber — Lord Cowley's Desponding Views — The 
Austrian Proposals— IJitterness in French Society — Necessity of Peace to France — Con- 
versation with M. Thiers— A Stag Hunt at St. Germains— The Emperor yields to the 
Russians — Birth of the Prince Imperial. 

January 1st, 1856, — Intelligence arrived yesterday that 
Esterhazy had presented the Austrian proposal tolSIesselrode 
on the 38th, who had received it in profound silence. Yes- 
terday morning the " Morning Post," in communicating this 
fact, put forth an article indecently violent and menacing 
against Prussia ; and as it contained a statement of what the 
Emperor Napoleon had said to Baron Seebach, which was 
exactly what Persigny had told Clarendon, this alone would 
prove, if any proof were required, that the article was in- 
serted either by Palmerston or by Persigny. The " Morning 
Post " derives its only importance from being the Gazette of 
Palmerston and of the French Government, and it is not 
very easy to determine which of the two is guilty of this 
article. These are the sort of manifestoes which make us so 
odious all over the world. 

Hatchford, January %d. — The speech which Louis Napo- 
leon addressed to the Imperial Guard the day before yester- 
day when they marched into Paris in triumph, gives reason 
for suspecting that the manifesto against Prussia in the 
"Morning Post" was French, for there is no small corre- 
spondence between the speech and the article. In the arti- 
cle Prussia is openly threatened and told, if she will not join 
the allies in making war on Russia, the allies will make war 
upon her ; in the speech the Guards are told to hold them- 



1856.] FRANCE AND PRUSSIA. 275 

selves in readiness and that a great French army will be 
wanted. Nothing is more witliin the bounds of probability 
than that the Emperor may determine, if he is obliged to 
make war, to make it for a French object, and on some 
enemy from whom a good spoil may be taken, a war which 
will gratify French vanity and cupidity, and which will 
therefore not be unpopular. He may think, and most prob- 
ably not erroneously, that in the present temper of this coun- 
try the people would be quite willing to let him do Avhat he 
pleases with Prussia, Belgium, or any other part of the con- 
tinent, if he will only concur with us in making fierce war 
against Eussia. But though this I believe to be the feeling 
of the masses, and that their resentment against Prussia is 
so strong that they would rejoice at seeing another Jena fol- 
lowed by similar results, the minority who are elevated 
enough in life to reason and reflect will by no means like to 
see France beginning to run riot again, and while we have 
been making such an uproar about the temporary occupation 
of the Principalities and the crossing of the Pruth by Russia, 
that we should quietly consent to, nay, become accomplices 
in the passage of the Ehine and an aggression on Germany 
by France. The very possibility of this shows the necessity 
of putting an end to a war which cannot continue without 
so many and such perilous contingencies. Nothing in fact 
can exceed the complications in which we can hardly help 
being plunged, and the various antagonistic interests which 
Avill be brought into collision, creating perplexities and diffi- 
culties which it would require the genius of a Richelieu to 
unravel and compose. The earth under our feet may be 
mined with plots ; we know not what any of the Great Pow- 
ers are really designing ; the only certainty for us is that we 
are going on blindly and obstinately spending our wealth and 
our blood in a war in which we have no interest, and in keep- 
ing Europe in a state of ferment and uncertainty the ulti- 
mate consequences of which it is appalling to contemplate. 
Clarendon showed me a letter from Francis Baring from 
Paris the other day, which told him that the Emperor 
wished to make peace, because he knew that France, with 
all her outward signs of prosperity, was unable to go on with 
the war without extreme danger, that she is in fact "using 
herself up," has been going on at a rate she cannot afford. 

Hatchford, January Uh. — I was in Loudon, yesterday, 
where I saw George Lewis, who was very low, sees no chance 



276 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

of peace, and everybody thinks it hopeless since the Eussian 
Circular has appeared. It is difficult to understand the 
motive of the Eussians in publishing such a proposal, when 
they must know it would not and could not be accepted, and 
Avere also aware of the terms the Western Powers were going 
to offer to her. Lewis says our financial prospect is very 
bad, a declining revenue, rising prices, a large loan wanted 
which will be got on bad terms, and more money to be lent 
to Sardinia and Turkey. He thinks, if the Eussians propose 
to negotiate, that Palmerston will never consent ; but though 
he will no doubt resist, if France presses it I have no doubt 
he will give way and that the majority of the Cabinet will be 
for doing so. Everything looks as black as possible, and the 
Emperor Napoleon's speech to the Imperial Guard following 
Persigny's article in the " Morning Post " wears a very 
menacing aspect. It is possible indeed that he may have 
held this language in order to frighten us into a more pa- 
cific disposition, but so far from being alarming or unpalat- 
able to the majority here, they will hail with satisfaction 
any intimation of his resolution to make war on Prussia ; 
and if Louis Napoleon will only go on fighting against Eus- 
sia, they will be quite willing that he should take whatever 
he pleases from any other power which will not join us in 
our present crusade. I often wonder what the Duke of 
Wellington would have said and thought if he could have 
lived to see this day, and the madness of this nation. 

London, January 9th. — I came to town on Monday and 
found when I arrived that there was a fresh glimmering of 
peace. Austria had sent word she was inclined to believe 
that Eussia intended to accept the terms. I went to Lewis, 
who told me this was true, but he did not know on what 
ground their opinion rested more than that ten days had 
elapsed during which no symptoms of a flat refusal had 
appeared, and Lewis himself thought there was no doubt they 
were considering whether they should accept or what reply 
they should make. Colloredo called on Clarendon the other 
day, and, after some unimportant talk, asked him if he had 
ever heard, or had reason to believe, that Eussia had made a 
communication to France to the effect that if France had a 
mind to take the Ehenish Provinces and make peace with 
her, she should not oppose such a design. Clarendon re- 
plied that he knew nothing of it, but thought it not at all 
improbable. 



1856.] NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. 277 

Bernstorff had a conversation with Eeeve the other day 
in which he told him that he was much put out at the iso- 
hited condition of Prussia, and gave him to understand that 
he should like the King to join the alliance, but he did not 
think anything would induce him to do so. It might per- 
haps be prudent, but it would be enormously base if Prussia 
were to come au secovrs des vainqueurs, and, now that Eus- 
sia is in exceeding distress, to join England and France, to 
whom she certainly is under no obligations, in crushing her. 
But then it would only be prudent for the moment and to 
remove an immediate and impending danger, for in the more 
comprehensive view of the balance of power and with refer- 
ence to general policy, it would be far wiser to leave the 
power of Russia undiminished. Germany has nothing to 
fear from Russia, for the notion of her being eternally ani- 
mated with designs of conquest in every direction is a mere 
chimsera which the people who propagate it do not them- 
selves believe. The part she has played for many years past 
has been that of a pacificator, and her only intervention has 
been to appease quarrels, and resist the progress of democ- 
racy and revolution. In 1848 it was the authority of the 
Emperor Nicholas which prevented a great war between 
Austria and Prussia which would have made all Germany 
a scene of havoc and bloodshed. Our Government now evi- 
dently expect a proposal from Russia to negotiate, and are 
living in hopes that it may be rejected in limine by Ester- 
hazy, and that they shall be able to prevail on the Emperor 
Napoleon not to consent to any overture that may be made 
to him through any other channel. 

January Ibth. — I came to town yesterday morning and 
found on my arrival the Russian answer, which was pretty 
much what I expected. I suspect our Government will 
have been disappointed that so much was conceded as to 
make a perem2)tory rejection so monstrous as to be hardly 
safe. However, Esterhazy has been ordered to withdraw on 
the 18th, unless everything else is conceded. Granville 
fancies they are not unlikely to do this, but I am per- 
suaded they will not. It remains to be seen what the 
French will do, for all depends on them. I asked Granville 
what he thought would be the end of it ; he said on the 
lohole he was rather disposed to expect it would lead to 
peace ; he said Austria did not mean to go to war with 
Russia in any case, he thought she had played her cards 



278 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XL 

with considerable dexterity, and made herself a sort of 
arbitress, and, what she most desired, had got a decided lead 
of Prussia, the object of her hatred. I asked him if Prussia 
was terrified at the menaces contained in tJie Emperor's 
speech and other things against her, and. he said he thought 
she was irritated but not frightened, and he inveighed 
against the folly of such speeches, and especially such 
articles as Persigny, if it was he, had put into the "Morning 
Post." 

January IQth. — So far as I can as yet discover of public 
opinion, it is in favor of accepting, or at all events of nego- 
tiating on, the Russian proposals. The " Times " has an 
ambiguous article on the subject. Nobody will approve of 
the continuation of the war merely to obtain an Austrian 
object, which the cession of Bessarabia is, and the article 
about Bomarsund, which has nothing to do with the avowed 
object of the war. I have not the least doubt one half of the 
Cabinet, at least, are in their hearts of this opinion, but I am 
afraid they will not have the courage to stand forth, avow, 
and act upon it. 

January \Wi. — I saw Lewis yesterday and for the first 
time saw something approaching to a certainty of peace. 
His information was curious : the "Morning Post," in the 
statement inserted by Persigny, said that the Eussians had 
rejected the conditions about Bessarabia, and about Bomar- 
sund, and had accepted the rest. In the counter proposition 
of Russia there was no mention of Bomarsund, and for 
this very good reason, that no such proposal was made to 
them. When the terms of Austria and France were sent 
here our Government objected to that article which said the 
allies reserved to themselves to make otlier conditions, or 
some such words. They said it was not fair, and that they 
should at once say what they wanted, and all they wanted, 
and the additions they proposed were that Bomarsund should 
not be restored, that Consuls should be admitted to the 
Black Sea ports, and that " something " should be done about 
Georgia and Circassia. This was their answer, and our 
allies agreed to these additions, but for what reason has not 
as yet appeared. Tliey sent the terms to St. Petersburg in 
their original shape and without our articles, so that in 
fact no condition about Bomarsund was made to them. The 
Cabinet met yesterday to determine what answer should be 
sent to Paris, the French having notified that they would 



1856.] TERMS OF PEACE ACCEPTED BY RUSSIA. 279 

make no reply to the counter proposal till they were apprised 
of our sentiments thereupon. Lewis said he had no doubt 
that both governments would be willing to enter upon nego- 
tiation on these terms, France and Austria being anxious 
for peace and our Government not averse, for they begin to 
perceive that there is a rapidly increasing disposition to put 
an end to the war, and particularly that nobody will desire 
to continue it merely to obtain an exclusively Austrian object, 
which the cession of part of Bessarabia would be, especially 
as Austria has no thought of going to war. The Russian 
Government have written in a very conciliatory tone to Paris, 
which is known, though the letter has not yet arrived. The 
King of Prussia had written a private, but very pressing 
letter to the Emperor of Russia entreating him to make 
peace. Though very private, the French Government con- 
trived to get a copy of it, and Cowley sent this copy home. 
It is said to be a very able letter written in a most confiden- 
tial style. Such being the state of affairs and all parties 
apparently being agreed in a disposition to put an end to the 
war, it seemed to me quite certain that the negotiations 
would be established, and that they would lead to peace. In 
the evening I asked Granville if he did not think we should 
now certainly have peace, and he said ''I think so, but there 
are still a great many complications," and he said Cowley and 
"VValewski were on such bad terms that they hardly spoke. 
The fact is that Cowley is a gentleman and a man of honor 
and A^eracity, but he is sensitive and prone to take offence ; 
the other is an adventurer, a needy speculator, without 
honor, conscience, or truth, and utterly unfit both as to his 
character and his capacity for such an office as he holds. 
Then it must be owned that it must be intolerably provoking 
to Walewski or any man in his situation to see Cowley estab- 
lished in such strange relations with the Emperor, being at 
least for certain purposes more his Minister for Foreign 
Affairs than Walewski himself. 

12 o'cloclc. — Payne has just rushed in here, to say that a 
telegraphic message, dated Vienna, ten o'clock last night, 
announces that " Russia accepts unconditionally the propos- 
als of the allies." The consequence of this astounding in- 
telligence was such a state of confusion and excitement on 
the Stock Exchange as was hardly ever seen before. The 
newspapers had one and all gone on predicting that the ne- 
gotiations would lead to nothing, and that the war would go 



280 KEIGX OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

on, so that innumerable people continued to be ''bears," and 
they were all rushing to get out as fast as they could. It 
remains yet to be seen whether it is really true ; if it is, the 
Eussianswill be prodigiously provoked when they find that 
this concession was superfluous, and that the allies would 
have accepted their terms. 

January 18th. — Though the account in the " Times" was 
not exactly correct, it proved substantially so. The right 
message came from Seymour soon after. There was such a 
scene in the Stock Exchange as was hardly ever witnessed ; 
the funds rose three per cent., making five in the last two 
days. The Rothschilds, and all the French who were in the 
secret with Walewski, must have made untold sums. I have 
been endeavoring to account for what appears the extraor- 
dinary conduct of Eussia in accepting the Austrian terms 
purely and simply, and this strikes me to be the solution of 
it, and if my idea is correct it will account for the exceed- 
ingly bad terms which Cowley and Walewski are on. The 
conditions offered to Russia contained none of the points 
insisted on by our Government. I believe that the French 
and Austrians believed, yery likely were certain, that if they 
had been sent Russia would have refused them, and, being 
bent on peace, they resolved to leave them out, and excuse 
themselves to England as they best could ; they therefore 
simply presented their proposal as it originally stood. Rus- 
sia replied with a qualified acceptance, and then Esterhazy 
was obliged by the compact to say that he could only take 
yes or no ; then, finding them not inclined to give any other 
answer, that he or somebody else told them the true state of 
the case, viz., that he had kept back the conditions we had 
demanded, and that unless they accepted his proposition, it 
must of necessity fall to the ground, and that nothing would 
then prevent the English points being brought forward and 
made absolute conditions of any fresh preliminaries. This 
was very likely to determine them to accept the proposals as 
put before them, for although by so doing they accepted the 
fifth condition, which exposes them to further and not speci- 
fied demands, the especial points on which we insist can only 
be brought forward as points for negotiation, and will not 
form part of those conditions to which by their acceptance 
they stand completely and irrevocably pledged. 

London, January 22d. — I went to Trentham on Friday, 
and returned yesterday. G ranville is very confident of peace. 



185C.] POPULAR FEELING FOR WAR. 281 

fancying that Eussia will make no difficulties, and will agree 
to our additional demands, which may he so, but seems to 
me far from certain. The intelligence of peace being at 
hand, or ])robable, gives no satisfaction here, and the whole 
press is violent against it, and thunders away against Russia 
and Austria, warns the people not to expect peace, and in- 
cites them to go on with the war. There seems little occa- 
sion for this, for the press has succeeded in inoculating the 
public with such an eager desire for war that there appears a 
general regret at the notion of making ])eace. When I was 
at Trentham, I asked Mr. Fleming, the gardener, a very in- 
telligent man, what the general feeling was in that part of 
the world, and he said the general inclination was to go on 
with the war till we had made Russia, besides other conces- 
sions, pay all its expenses. It appears to me impossible the 
entente cordiale with France can go on long if the war goes 
on, when the people here are passionate for war, and in 
France they are equally passionate for peace. If the Em- 
peror goes on with the war he will be very popular here, 
which does not signify much to him, but give deep offence 
to his own countrymen, which will be of vital importance to 
him, and no wonder, for their disgust will be intense at 
being compelled to carry on a war at a ruinous expense, 
merely because it is the pleasure of the English to do so. 
This seems so obvious that I do not believe, after having gone 
so far, and excited such strong hopes of peace, that he will 
dare to disappoint the expectations of the country. What 
the people of England would really like would be to engage 
France to continue, and to issue a joint declaration of war 
against Austria and Prussia. 

Jmiuary 2od. — Telegraphic news yesterday that Austria 
positively refuses to send our supplementary conditions to 
St. Petersburg. France backed us up, or at least pretended 
to do so, for it is quite impossible to know what she really 
docs. Baudin is come over here, supposed to be for the pur- 
pose of explaining and apologizing for Walewski's not having 
sent the conditions originally. I do not know what excuse 
he makes. Lewis thinks as I do, that the real reason was 
his fear lest they should endanger the acceptance by Russia 
of the conditions. Our Government believe, or at least pre- 
tend to do so, that the Emperor was innocent of this rtise 
and that Walewski is alone guilty ; but I doubt it, for I can- 
not believe Walewski would dare to do such a thing; without 



282 REIGN" OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

his master's knowledge and consent, and should not be sur- 
prised if the whole thing was the Emperor's doing. 

There is a tremendous clamor got up by the press against 
Lord Stratford on account of his neglect of General Williams 
at Kars and leaving his appeals for aid unattended to. 
Stratford has sent home a defence of himself, and, I hear, 
a skilful one. I do not think they will remove him, because 
they say he is now acting bond fide according to his instruc- 
tions, and exerting all his influence to smooth any difficul- 
ties that may arise at Constantinople in adjusting the terms 
of peace. But it is likely that the Turks are now very anx- 
ious for peace, as they are exceedingly sick of their pro- 
tectors, by whom their dignity and independence are quite 
as much compromised as by their enemies, while the process 
of exhaustion is going on at a constantly increasing ratio. 

January 26th. — Yesterday morning Disraeli called on me, 
and after we had discussed some private affairs, he began 
talking politics. He is very triumphant at his pacific views 
and expectations having turned out so true, and at the 
' ' Press " newspaper having proved to be right. He said, he had 
never stood so well with the besi men of his party as he drd 
now, that he is to have forty-five men, the cream of the Con- 
servatives, to dine with him on Wednesday next. He then 
talked of Derby and the blunders he had made in spite of all 
the advice he had given and the remonstrances he had made 
to him, that he had written to him and told him what he 
knew from undoubted authority must and would happen 
about peace, and implored him not to commit himself to the 
continuance of the war, but that Derby with all his great 
talents had no discretion, and suffered himself to be led and 
influenced by some of the weakest and least capable men of 
his party. So instead of listening to what Disraeli said to 
him, he writes a long, reasoned reply to his arguments in 
the same way he would have replied to a speech in the 
House of Lords, and when he went to Scotland he had the 
folly to go to some meeting got up for the purpose, and then 
to make a violent war speech. I asked him how Derby and 
Stanley got on together, and he said that they were so much 
attached to each other, and Stanley had so profound a filial 
veneration for his father, that personal feelings silenced all 
political differences, and nothing would induce Stanley to 
take any public part adverse to his father's policy and 
opinions. It was evident that there is little political cordi- 



1856.] MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. 283 

ality between Derby and Disraeli, and a considerable split in 
the party. If Disraeli is to be believed, the best of the Con- 
servatives arc disposed to go with him rather than with Derby, 
but I own I nmch doubt this. However, it will soon be seen 
what tlie state of that party is. 

No further advance has been made toward the arrange- 
ments, but it is clear peace will be made. George Grey told 
me so yesterday, and intimated as much as that small diffi- 
culties must and would be got over. France, Austria, and 
Russia are resolved on peace, and England cannot alone make 
herself an obstacle. I suppose it will end in some compromise 
upon the points remaining in dispute. 

Macaulay has retired from Parliament, where he had done 
nothing since his last election ; he hardly ever attended and 
never spoke, or certainly not more than once. It is to be 
hoped his life will be spared to bring down his history to the 
end of Queen Anne's reign, which is all that can possibly be 
expected. 

Jcmuari/ 31st. — Parliament meets to-day. Who would 
have thought a few weeks ago that the Queen's Speech 
would announce the preliminaries of peace ? Who would 
ever have thought that tidings of peace would produce a 
general sentiment of disappointment and dissatisfaction in 
this nation ? There are, however, sundry symptoms of an 
approaching change in the public mind. The press is much 
perplexed ; the newspapers do not know what to say. They 
confidently predicted that there would be no peace, and 
urged the people to go on clamoring for war as long as they 
could ; but since they have seen that their noise is ineffectual, 
and that peace is inevitable, they have nearly left off inveigh- 
ing against it, because doing so without any result only ex- 
hibits their own impotence, which is just what they most 
wish to avoid. They therefore now confine themselves to a 
sort of undergrowl, muttering abuse against Eussia and 
Austria, calling out for more stringent terms, and still in- 
dulging in a desperate hope that some unexpected difficulty 
may occur to break off the negotiations and plunge us into 
war again. The Opposition are as much perplexed as the 
press, and do not know what course to take, or what is the 
most vulnerable part of the Government, and they are not 
agreed among themselves. 

So in the meantime they seem disposed to vent them- 
selves in a fierce attack on Baron Parke's Life Peerage. 



284 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

Tkis peerage has excited great wrath even in many who are 
friendly to the Government, and probably in all who are 
unfriendly. Among those who most vehemently resent it 
are Lord Campbell, Lord Lyndhurst, and, as I am told. 
Brougham. There is much to be said about it either way, 
and it will probably give rise to some good debates and not 
uninteresting. 

As one of many other proofs of the difficulty of getting 
at truth, and therefore of having history correctly written, 
I must record a fact not very imjoortant in itself. Lewis 
distinctly told me that it was France (i.e. Walewski) who 
kept back our conditions when the Austrian propositions 
were returned to Vienna ; now Granville tells me it was not 
France, but Austria, who is responsible for their not having 
been sent to St. Petersburg, and that Walewski did send 
them to Vienna. The truth probably is that he gave notice 
to Buol that we wanted these things, but did not incorporate 
them with the propositions, and that Buol, though apprised 
of them, did not choose to insert what France had not chosen 
to insert herself. It is quite impossible to believe that they 
can make any serious difficulty ; it is time to make peace 
with Russia when our relations with America are assuming a 
very unpleasant aspect. 

February M. — Parliament opened very quietly, and there 
was no disposition evinced to find fault with the Government, 
or to throw obstacles in the way of making peace. A great 
change has certainly come over the country within the last 
fortnight or three weeks, not that people are not still sorry to 
see the end of the war, and rather inclined to view the peace 
with suspicion as well as dislike, but they have no grounds 
for complaint, they see that it is inevitable, and they are dis- 
posed to acquiesce. 

Derby came down full of opposition but rather puzzled 
how to vent it, so he criticised the Speech, which was a very 
poor and bald composition, made a great stir about Kars, and 
announced a fierce attack on Baron Parke's Life Peerage. 

In the House of Commons everything was Yevj piano, and 
Disraeli quite moderate. The Government are much puzzled 
about this unlucky Life Peerage. The thing is done, and 
now they find themselves condemned by a large majority 
which includes all the Law Peers. If any vote can be taken 
on it in the House of Lords, they will be beaten. 

The Conferences will begin in about three weeks, and 



1856.] THE DEBATE ON THE WENSLEYDALE PEERAGE. 285 

probably be very soon over, for it is the object of all parties 
to put an end to the enormous expense which, every day that 
the war lasts, is increased, aud no doubt is entertained by the 
well-informed that Russia is in earnest, and will go through 
with it firmly and sincerely. The most unpleasant incident 
is the difference with America, which has a bad aspect, but 
when they learn that we are going to make peace with Rus- 
sia we flatter ourselves the Americans will become reason- 
able.^ If a war should ensue it would be still more insane 
than the Russian war, for we should be fighting absolutely 
for no object whatever, and merely from the collision of the 
proud and angry feelings of the two nations. Neither would 
gain anything if the other were to give way and concede all 
that is in dispute as to the Central American question. 

February 1th. — Nothing can be more extraordinary than 
the lull here, after so much sound and fury, while the nego- 
tiations and question of peace or war are pending. There 
is evidently a complete acquiescence in the coming peace, 
though if the terms are not as stringent as people expect, 
there will be a great deal of grumbling and abuse of the 
Government. 

The case with America looks bad, but nobody can seriously 
believe that war between the two countries can possibly arise 
out of such questions as those now pending. It will probably 
end in the return of Crampton, and the return of Buchanan, 
suspension of diplomatic relations for a time, then fresh ne- 
gotiations and a reconciliation, but no war. 

February Wi. — The debate in the House of Lords on the 
Wensleydale Peerage was interesting but inconclusive. Lynd- 
hurst made, as usual, a wonderful speech for his age. He 
contrived with much dexterity to avoid the question of 
legality, which he evidently thought he could not disprove ; 
Campbell and St. Leonards boldly pronounced it illegal ; 
Brougham admitted the legality ; all the lawyers but the 
Chancellor are dead against the Life Peerage. Out of the 
House, Lushington is clear for it; Pemberton Leigh against; 
both of them have been offered and have refused peerages. 
The result appears to be that the patent is not illegal, but 
that there was no sufficient cause, and therefore that it was 
a great folly to deviate from tlie usual course in Parke's case. 

» [Differences had arisen between the British and the American Govern- 
ments in consequence of the enlistment of American citizens in the Britisli army 
durinsx the war, aud also with reference to the British possessions in Central 
America.] 



286 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

It is awkward, and both the Opposition and the Government 
seem very much puzzled what to do. The best course on 
the whole seems to be (and it probably will so end) to confer 
on the Baron an hereditary peerage, and let the question of 
life peers stand over for the present, to be better considered 
and discussed hereafter when circumstances may require such 
a measure. 

Palmerston made a very good speech last night on the 
American questions, judicious and becomJng, and it was very 
well received. According to present appearances the Gov- 
ernment is in no danger of being turned out, and if they 
make a peace which satisfies, and bring in and pass some 
good measures, they may actually become strong, 

February 15th. — While the world is waiting with tolera- 
ble patience for the opening of the negotiations, it has got 
two subjects to occupy and interest it, and to give rise to 
plenty of discussion and dispute. The first is the Life Peer- 
age question, which is become very embarrassing to its oppo- 
nents and its advocates. There '^is a great majority of the 
lawyers against it, but more on the score of its being improper 
and inexpedient, perJiaps unconstitutional, than that it is ab- 
solutely illegal. The highest authority in favor of it seems 
to be Dr. Lushington, who refuse to be made a peer when a 
peerage was pressed upon him. The Government are de- 
termined to fight it out, and on no account to give way. 
Nobody knows with whom the project originated, but there 
is a very general idea that it was with the Prince. General 
Grey, however, told his brother, the Earl, that the Prince had 
nothing to do with it, and that his Koyal Highness knew 
nothing of the matter till after it had been settled. I 
cannot see how it can be illegal, and neither the danger nor 
the inexpediency of making Life Peers is quite apparent to 
me ; but I think it has been a blunder, and that so great a 
novelty ought not to have been suddenly sprung upon the 
world without any attempt to ascertain how it would be 
regarded, and Derby's argument it is very difficult to meet. 
He says that when a certain prerogative has not been exer- 
cised 'for 400 years, such long disuse of it, if it does not 
amount to an abrogation of it, at all events throws such a 
doubt upon it as to make the exercise of it now exceedingly 
questionable, and it appears by the precedents that in every 
case of a Life Peerage it was done consensu procerum, or 
consensu procerum et communitatis — that is, by consent of 



1856.] REPORT ON THE SUFFERINGS OF THE ARMY. 287 

the Lords, or by Act of Parliament. The whole question is 
so obscure and uncertain, that it is impossible to come to any 
satisfactory conclusion drawn from precedents and usage. 
In spite of the resolution of the Government, I doubt 
whether they will not be compelled to give way in some 
manner, for the Opposition appear to be equally resolved not 
to let Baron Parke take his seat. 

The other subject is Sir John McNeill's report,^ which 
has already elicited violent articles in the papers, and will 
occasion hot debates in the House of Commons, perhaps in 
both Houses. The report furnishes a &iro\\g primd facie case 
against Airey and Gordon, Q. M. and A. Q. M. Generals, and 
par ricochet against Hardinge himself, also against Lucan 
and Cardigan. The accused parties vehemently complain, 
and insist upon being allowed to vindicate themselves. 
Probably in the course of the discussions a good deal of the 
truth, but not all, will come out. It may be doubted whether 
there is any part of our military administration, as well as of 
our military operations during this war, on which it is possible 
to reveal and explain everything without showing up the 
French, and this has been the reason why all investigations 
and explanations have had such imperfect and unsatisfactory 
results. If the charges of McNeill are true, it seems to me 
that the man most to blame was Raglan, who was supreme, 
omnipotent, and responsible, and who ought not to have 
allowed the evils, which were notorious, to go on accumu- 
lating, without applying those effectual remedies which, ac- 
cording to the report, were abundantly at his disposal ; but 
of course everybody will shrink from casting the blame post- 
humously upon him. The " Times" has now found that the 
losses and sufferings of the army were erroneously and 
wrongfully attributed to the Government at home. McNeill 
has brought back with him notes of conversations with 
Raglan, in which Raglan told him that most if not all of the 
things he had been so bitterly reproached for were all owing 
to the opposition and contradiction he met with from the 
French, Canrobert especially. 

Cowley, who called on me the day before yesterday, said 
he should be very glad to have peace concluded, in order that 
our intimate connection and dependence on each other might 
be at an end, for the difficulties arising therefrom, and the 

1 [Sir John McNeill had been sent to the Crimea and Constantinople to in- 
vestigate the causes of the sufferings of the troops in the winter 185-i-'55.] 



288 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

impossibility of placing any reliance on the French Min- 
isters, were a perpetual source of annoyance. He thinks the 
Emperor honest and true, but that he is surrounded by a 
parcel of men every one of whom is dishonest and false. 
The Emperor knows this, and knows what is thought of his 
ministers, but he says, " What am I to do ? and where can I 
find better men who will enter my service ? " 

Clarendon came here to-day to take leave of me on going 
to the Conference in Paris. He talks despondingly, but 
less about making peace than about making one that will 
be acceptable here. He augurs well from the choice of 
Eussian Plenipotentairies who are both personally agreeable 
to him, for he knows Orloif very intimately. When he took 
leave of Brunnow three years ago he said to him, "If ever 
you see a good chance of peace, let me know," and now 
Brunnow has sent him a message reminding him of what 
he had said, and telling him he now saw it. It was Clarendon 
who fixed on Paris for the Conference, everybody else being 
against it, especially the Emperor Napoleon and Palmerston, 
but Clarendon thought the advantage of having personal 
communication with the Emperor himself outweighed every 
other consideration, and he is right. Louis Napoleon will 
be the arbiter, and the struggle will be between England 
and Eussia to get possession of him. Brunnow arrived at 
Paris to-day, the first arrival of the Plenipotentiaries, and 
he was received with great acclamations and manifestations 
of joy. Clarendon is dissatisfied at Brunnow's having got 
there first as if to steal a march on him, but this is un- 
reasonable, as no particular day was fixed for their coming 
at once, and Clarendon might have been the first if he had 
chosen it, and Cavour is to be there to-clay or to-morrow. 

February 21st. — A week has passed since most of the 
Plenipotentiaries arrived at Paris, and we hear nothing of 
what has been going on amongst them ; at least I hear 
nothing except that Clarendon writes word he is quite 
satisfied with the Emperor — the Hollands, that all sorts of 
intrigues are rife, Brunnow, Morny, and Madame de Lieven 
closeted together for hours, and Madame de Lieven writes 
to me in melancholy mood, saying she anticipates many diffi- 
culties, and complaining of the exigeances which she hears of 
as probable, and how ungenerous as well as impolitic it is to 
make no allowance for the difficulty of the Emperor's position 
vis a vis of his own people, and to bear so hard upon him. 



1856.] SABBATARIANISM. 289 

From all this I infer that the Russians have been informed 
that the Emperor Napoleon has engaged to back us up in 
our exigeances, the principal of which is probably the dis- 
mantling of Nicolaielf ; this may be inferred from what has 
appeared in the French press. The "Journal des Debats" 
published an article saying we had n.o right to demand this, 
to which the '^Siecle" replied asserting we had a right, and 
the article in the " Siecle" was copied into the " Moniteur," 
which was tantamount to a recognition and api)roval of it. 
There are rumors afloat here that matters are not going on 
satisfactorily at Paris, and, taking all these things together, 
it looks as if the horizon was a little overcast, but as Orloff 
was only to arrive at Paris last night nothing essential can 
as yet have passed. Meanwhile this country remains in the 
same passive and expectant state, so far behaving very well 
that there is not the least stir or any attempt to make peace 
more difficult, not a word said in Parliament, no meetings 
or petitions, the "Times" nearly silent, and only an under- 
growl from time to time from the Radical or malignant 
journals. But all who have had any opportunity of testing 
the state of public feeling agree that the peace, be it what it 
may, will be taken with regret, and that if Clarendon were to 
return having broken off the negotiations, and to announce 
that the war would go on, he would be hailed with the 
greatest enthusiasm, and the ardor for war Avould break out 
with redoubled force. 

While this lull has been going on upon the great ques- 
tion, the world has been less passionately moved and inter- 
ested by the affairs of the Wensleydale Peerage, and nobody 
has talked of anything else for the last ten days but this and 
the Crimean Report. The general feeling among the law- 
yers and in society is against the Life Peerage, but the Gov- 
ernment are very reluctant to give way and to own them- 
selves beaten upon it. To-night is the great, and, it may 
be hoped, final struggle in the House of Lords upon it, when 
nobody doubts that the Government will be beaten. 

Last night the Evangelical and Sabbatarian interest had 
a great victory in the House of Commons, routing those who 
endeavored to effect the opening of the National Gallery 
and British Museum on Sunday. The only man of impor- 
tance who sustained this unequal and imprudent contest was 
Lord Stanley. At this moment cant and Puritanism are in 
the ascendant, and so far from effecting any anti-sabbatarian 

13 



290 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

reform, it will be very well if we escape some of the more 
stringent measures against Sunday occupations and amuse- 
ments with which Exeter Hall and the prevailing spirit 
threaten us. 

February %Uli. — A letter from Lady Clarendon, who 
says '' the report about things going ill is false, and as yet 
things have hardly begun. The Emperor in feelings and 
opinions is everything that Clarendon could desire." Ma- 
dame de Lieven received Clarendon d Iras ouverts, but said 
very little to him. This morning I called on George Lewis, 
and had a long talk about the prospects of peace. He said 
Palmerston, according to his ancient custom, was doing all 
he could to extort as much as possible from Russia, writing 
to Clarendon in this strain constantly and urging him to in- 
sist on more and more concessions ; but Lewis thinks not- 
withstanding this that Palmerston has quite made up his 
mind for peace, and that he makes demands very often with 
the expectation of being refused, and the intention of not 
insisting on them if he finds a very determined resistance. 
One point of difEerence is Kars ; the Russians not unfairly 
wish to have some equivalent for surrendering it, and Palm- 
erston insists that they are not entitled to any. In the pre- 
liminaries it was settled that we were to restore all our con- 
quests, and they were in return to give up part of Bessarabia. 
At that time Kars was not taken, and now they say the rela- 
tive positions of the parties are altered, and "if we are to re- 
store Kars, that ought to be set against the restoration of 
Kinburn, the part of the Crimea you occupy, &c. , and having 
got an equivalent in Kars, you ought to relax your demand 
for Bessarabia." To this Palmerston replies that the Russians 
are to guarantee the integrity of the Turkish dominions, of 
which Kars is a part, and therefore their restoration of it is 
a matter of course for which no equivalent is necessary. 
This argument is not logical, and no arbitrator would admit 
it. It is a good point to wrangle upon, and if the Russians 
knock under it will be because they are resolved to submit 
to any terms rather than not have peace. 

It is much the same thing about Nicolaieff, as to which 
the Emperor appears at present disposed to back us up. 
Lewis disapproves of our exigeances and Palmerston 's tone. 
He thinks on both points the Russians have good cases, and 
that Palmerston and Clarendon are only fighting for them 
in order to have a more plausible and showy peace to set 



1856.] DEBATE ON LIFE PEERAGES. 291 

before the country. He says we never thought of demand- 
ing the destruction of the docks of Nicolaieff at first, and 
that our demanding it now is a mere afterthought, and in 
l^ursuunce of the plan of starting as many demands as Ave 
can to take the chance of what we can get. Lewis disap- 
proves of this course, and urged me to encourage Clarendon 
not to lend himself to exigencies unjust in themselves, but 
to do what he really thinks right and necessary without fear 
of the consequences. 

When we had done talking of this matter he said he 
wanted to speak to me about the Peerage question, which had 
assumed a shape which he thought menaced great embarrass- 
ment, if not danger. The government, he said, would not 
give way, and he was himself opposed to their doing so ; but 
what was to be done ? I said I did not see what the Gov- 
ernment could do, nor why they should not give way when 
they had resolved to fight and had been fairly beaten ; but 
he thought they should stultify themselves by acknowledg- 
ing they had been wrong, and that such a course would 
oblige the Chancellor to resign. I controverted these propo- 
sitions and said they would stultify themselves much more, 
if from motives of vanity and pride t hey chose to let the 
House of Lords remain without that assistance to obtain 
which was the pretext for Parke's creation. On the whole, 
Lewis seemed to think the least objectionable course would 
be to pass a bill enabling the Crown to make a certain num- 
ber of Life Peers, but he overlooked the fact that this would 
be as much a confession of error, and an acknowledgement 
that the Qneen had no such prerogative, as to make Lord 
Wensleydale an hereditary Peer. My advice was to make 
him an hereditary Viscount. I was obliged to go away and 
had not time to talk it out. In the afternoon, I spoke to 
Campbell and Lyndhurst about it, and asked what they pro- 
posed, and how the difficulty was to be got over. They 
naturally want the Government to knock under and give up 
the hereditary peerage ; they both scouted the idea of Parke 
coming down to the House of Lords and insisting on being 
admitted and making a scene. Lyndhurst to-night is to 
give notice of motion for a Committee to consider the Ap- 
pellate Jurisdiction. 

February ^ItJi. — The debate in the Lords on Monday 
night affords a prospect of an amicable termination of the 
Peerage case, but the Government still have a lingering hope 



392 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

that by some management and contrivance they may avoid 
the necessity of submitting to their defeat and acting accord- 
ingly. There is to be a Committee on the Appellate Juris- 
diction, and they think they may obtain some I'eport which 
may enable them to get out of their scrape, but the only way 
I can make out by which they think of doing this is to lay 
the foundation of a bill to enable the Crown to make a 
limited number of Life Peers. This Av^ould, however, be a 
more formal acknowledgement of error, and that the Queen 
does not possess the prerogative, than any other course. I 
expect they will at last be driven to adopt the course I re- 
commended, that of making Park a Viscount, hereditary of 
course. 

Last night, Disraeli made a bitter attack on the Govern- 
ment, to which Labouchere replied with a spirit for which 
nobody gave him credit. The Opposition displayed great 
warmth, and a disposition to show serious fight on any occa- 
sion they could find. Certainly the Government cuts a very 
poor figure, and it is difficult not to think that as soon as 
the all absorbing question of peace or war is decided, they 
will be much put to it to defend themselves, unless they con- 
duct affairs much better for the future than they have done 
up to the present time. Hitherto they have presented a 
series of blunders, failures, and exposures. First of all the 
Peerage question ; then, much worse, in the House of Com- 
mons, Lowe's Bill on Shipping Dues, which Palmerston was 
obliged to withdraw last night, not at all creditably, and the 
failure of which was in a great measure attributable to 
Lowe's very injudicious speech, which, as he is the organ of 
the Board of Trade in the House of Commons, was in itself 
a great evil and misfortune. George Grey's Bill on County 
Police meets with such opposition that though it is a very 
good measure he will probably not be able to carry it. But 
still worse than these are the case of the Crimean Eeport 
with all its incidents, one blunder after another, and the 
wretched exhibition of Monsell in moving the Ordnance Es- 
timates, amounting to a complete break-down. All these 
things, one after another, place the Government in a very 
weak and contemptible position, and show that in spite of 
Palmerston's having recovered a good deal of his personal 
popularity in the House of Commons, his Government has 
no strength, and his being able to go on at all is only owing 
to the peculiar circumstances in which the country is placed. 



1856.] A VISIT TO PARIS. 293 

and the extreme difficulty of any other Government being 
formed which would be palateable to the country, more effi- 
cient, and therefore stronger and more durable tlian the 
present. 

To-morrow I purpose going to Paris to see and hear what 
is going on at this interesting moment. 

Paris, March 1st, 1856. — I left London on Thursday with 
M. de Flahault and my brother. We slept at Boulogne, and 
after a prosperous journey in all its stages, found myself in 
my old quarters at the Embassy yesterday evening at seven 
o'clock. I had hardly arrived before a card came from Morny, 
wlio gave a great evening party with two petitcs pieces and 
music. I went there with Lady Cowley. The crowd was so 
great that I saw nothing whatever of the spectacle, but was 
pretty well amused, for I met some old acquaintance, made 
some new ones, and was presented to some of the celebrities 
of the day. I was much struck with the ugliness of the 
women, and the extreme recherche of their costumes. Na- 
ture has done nothing for them, their modisies all that is pos- 
sible. The old friends I met were La Marre and Bourqueney, 
whom I have not seen since he was Secretary of Embassy to 
Guizot, when we had so much to do together about the affairs 
of the East. I made acquaintance with Fleury, the Em- 
press's Grand !&cu}'er, renewed it with Bacciochi, and I was 
presented to Cavour and the Grand Vizier, as little like the 
beau ideal of a Grand Vizier as can well be imagined, but by 
all accounts a Turk comme il y en a pen. He is a very lit- 
tle, dark, spare, mild-looking man, speaks French perfectly, 
and exceedingly clever, well-informed, enlightened, and hon- 
orable. He was Grand Vizier once before, and owes his pres- 
ent elevation to his great personal merit. He accepted the 
post with reluctance, feeling snre Stratford would torment 
him to death and get him turned out again, but it seems as 
if his high qualities, and the general respect with which he 
is regarded, would enable him to maintain himself against 
all intrigues, and even against Stratford's predominance. I 
met Clarendon, but had hardly any opportunity of talking to 
him, as he was every moment interrupted by people come 
up to do civilities to him. He had just time to tell me that 
matters are going on very slowly, and that he sees no reason 
why he should not be kept here for the next six months. 
OrlofE had met him a bras ouverts and renewed their old 
Petersburg friendship. Brunnow he is disgusted with, and 



294 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

says he has made a bad impression here. He told me he had 
said to BrunnoYV : " You were in England long enough to 
know what a special pleader is ; well, if all other trades 
should fail you, take to that." 

Orloff spoke very frankly about the war, and the conduct 
of the late Emperor, which he had always regarded as insane 
in sending Menschikoff to Constantinople. If he had sent 
him, Orloff, instead, he would answer for it, there would 
have been no war. Then marching into the Principalities, 
and finally not accepting the modifications of the Vienna 
Note. After this, Orloff said, he had declined to have any- 
thing more to do with those affairs, and had retired in dis- 
gust. He thought Nicholas's mind had undergone a change 
after he had reached sixty years of age. 

Clarendon said he was delighted with the Emperor and 
liked him better and better every time he saw him. I met 
Walewski, who said he wanted to talk to me, when he ex- 
pressed great anxiety to know the state of opinion in Eng- 
land, and talked of the chances of peace, and particularly 
wished to know if I thought Palmerston really and sincerely 
desired peace. I told him the exact truth as to opinion in 
England, and said I believed Palmerston was now sincere in 
wishing to make peace, but that it was in his nature to be 
exigeant, and he thought it necessary to be so now because 
it was of great moment to him to present to the country a 
peace with as many concessions as possible from Eussia. I 
said it depended on France after all, and then I found that 
while they thought Bomarsund ought to be an indispensable 
condition, Nicolaieff ought not ; and so we parted, and I 
promised to dine with him on Monday. 

This morning after breakfast I had a long conversation 
with Cowley. He did not speak despondingly of the peace, 
but he dilated on the difficulty of coming to satisfactory 
terms, and such as Clarendon could consent to, which he 
attributes principally to the French, who, having gained all 
the glory they want for the satisfaction of their national van- 
ity, have no longer any desire to go on with the war, and we 
are placed by them in a fix. " If," he said, " our army was 
in Asia Minor he should not care, because then we might say 
to them, Do just what you please, make peace if it suits you, 
we shall not resent it or have any quarrel with you, but we 
will carry on the war on our own account. As it is, if we 
insist on renewing the war, the French cannot, and would 



1856.] MADAME DE LIEVEN ON THE WAR. 295 

not abandon us, and leave us to be attacked by superior 
Kiissiau armies ; they would therefore very reluctantly go 
on with the war, but it would be well knowii that we were 
drajjging them on with us, and the exasperation against 
us would be great and general, and, say what we might, 
a quarrel between France and England would infallibly en- 
sue." He said all the objections he had entertained against 
Paris being the place of conference had been more than 
realised, and that the thing to have done would have been 
to have it in some dull German town, where there would 
have been no amusements and occupations, and no intrigues, 
and where they would have applied themselves vigorously to 
their work in order to get it done as quickly as })ossible. I 
have not, however, as yet made out what intrigues there 
arc, but there is of course a vast deal of commcraye going on. 

The conferences take place every other day, beginning at 
one, and they generally last about four hours. Walewski 
presides, and, they say, does it pretty well ; M. Benedctti, 
the Chef de Departement in the Foreign Office, is the Proto- 
collist and Kedacteur ; the manner of it is conversational, 
but they occasionally make speeches, Walewski told me. 
I asked Clarendon in the evening how they were going on, 
and he said he thought they were making a little progress, 
but that the French did all they could to render it impossible. 

I called on Madame de Lieven in the morning, who did 
not seem to know much beyond what lies on the surface. 
She is craving for news and eager for peace. Orloff has kept 
aloof from her, to her great mortification, and rather to the 
malicious satisfaction of her enemies, but he went to see her 
at last the day before yesterday, and, I suppose, accounted 
for the delay, for she spoke of him as if they were friends, 
though of course she would take care not to say a word of 
complaint or to have it supposed, if she could help it, that 
he had neglected her. She complained that in our exigeance 
Ave did not make allowance enough for the difficulties of 
the Emperor of Russia's position, for, however necessary 
peace might be to Russia, there is a very great party there 
who from pride and obstinacy would carry on the war at 
all risks and hazards. She talked much of the enormous 
faults that had been committed throughout the whole of the 
Eastern Question, and of the severe retribution the pride 
of the late Emperor had drawn down on his country, and 
remarked, which is quite true, that this would be the first 



296 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

time in the history of Eussia in which she had made a dis- 
advantageous peace ; for even in her wars against Napoleon, 
when she had suffered defeat after defeat, she had still con- 
cluded peace with a gain of territory. I saw the Hollands, 
Guizot at Madame de Lieven's door, called on Lady Claren- 
don, and then went to ride with Lady Cowley in the Bois, 
and so the evening and the morning were the first day. The 
weather is cold and gloomy, and I don't think I shall stay 
here long. 

March 3d. — Went about visiting yesterday, and at night 
to the Tuileries, an evening party and play, two small pieces ; 
the Emperor was very civil to me as usual,. came up to me 
and shook hands ; he talked to Orloff and to Clarendon, then 
the Grande Maitresse told him the Empress was ready, when 
he went out and came back with her on his arm, Mathilde, 
Princess Murat, and Plon Plon following. As the Emperor 
passed before me, he stopped and presented me to the Em- 
press. I was introduced to Orloff, and in the course of the 
evening had a long talk with Brunnow, who said they had 
made all the advances and concessions they could, and it was 
for us to move toward peace, and not to advance one step 
and then retreat two. 

This morning I went to see the opening of the legislative 
bodies, and hear the Emperor's Speech. It was a gay and 
pretty sight, so full of splendor and various colors, but 
rather theatrical. He read his speech very well and the 
substance of it gave satisfaction ; it was not easy to compose 
it, but he did it exceedingly well, and steered clear of the 
ticklish points with great adroitness and tact. It sounded 
odd to English ears to hear a Royal Speech applauded at the 
end of each paragraph, and the shouts of " Vive I'Erapereur " 
from the Senators and Deputies. 

After Cowley came home he began talking over the state 
of affairs, and the peace we are going to make, about which 
his grief and disappointment are overflowing. He says the 
Emperor had the best intentions, but has been beset with 
men who were determined on peace for their own ends, and 
whom he could not resist. What he blames him for is not 
having at once said that he would go so far with us and no 
further, and not have allowed us to delude ourselves with 
expectations of support from him that were not to be real- 
ised. He says it is now all over, the matter decided, it will 
proceed rapidly, and all be finished by Easter. 



1856.] A DINNER AT COUNT WALEWSKPS. 297 

At night. — I have been dining with Walewski, a very 
handsome dinner to the Sardinians, and a party afterward. 
Knowing none of the people, it Avas a bore ; I found nobody 
to converse with but Cavour and Flahault ; talked over the 
state of affairs Avith the latter and our discontents. He said 
the Emperor could not refuse, and when Clarendon came 
over and found His IVIajesty's conversation so satisfactory, he 
was misled by it and fancied he should obtain his support to 
all our demands ; he owned that it would have been better 
if the Emperor had been more explicit. When I got home 
I found Cowley, who was engaged in drawing up a statement 
of the comparative state of Russia, as to her aggressive power 
against Turkey before the war and now, after peace has been 
made. He is doing this for Clarendon and to assist him in 
making his case good in Parliament when the i^eace is at- 
tacked, as he says it is quite certain it will be. I asked him 
what were the points on which the Russians made the most 
difficulty. He said on all except Bomarsund. He is quite 
convinced that Walewski has played false, and that he has 
made known to Orloff exactly what he must give up, and 
when he may be stout. 

Ilarch bth. — Little to record ; Cowley continues talking 
to me of the state of affairs as it is and as it might have been, 
and is excessively dejected and disgusted at the idea of the 
peace he is about to sign ; he thinks it neither creditable nor 
likely to be durable, but we start from such different points 
of view that it is impossible for us to agree. He harps upon 
the evil done by having the Conference here, and certainly 
the advantage Clarendon promised himself from having it 
here has proved null, for the Emperor does not send for him, 
having no mind to talk to him, and he will not ask an audi- 
ence of the Emperor, though Cowley urges him very much 
to do it. He acknowledges, however, that it would be now 
too late, and that nothing more can be done ; he thinks 
Clarendon will bring himself with great reluctance to sign 
such a Treaty ; but he must swallow the pill, however bitter. 
The bitterness proceeds from having had such vast preten- 
sions and having encouraged, if not held, such lofty lan- 
guage. 

It is no wonder that this Government want to get their 
army home when typhus is raging there, and they have by 
their own account 23,000 men in hospital, while ours is quite 
healthy. We took all sorts of precautions, and strongly ad- 



298 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

Tised the Freucli to do the same, and to adopt a sanitary plan 
we imparted to them ; they held it cheap, did nothing, and 
here are the consequences. It is said that while those who 
have been in the Crimea and have distinguished themselves 
are eager for peace, those who have not yet earned medals 
are averse to peace, and that there will be a good deal of 
jealousy between the regiments. 

March 6th. — We talked yesterday morning about the ori- 
gin of the Austrian proposals, and Cowley said he had never 
been able exactly to make out whether the scheme had origi- 
nated at Vienna or here, but he was inclined to believe that 
tlie first hint was given by Austria, and that Walewski then 
put the thing on paper, which was sent to Vienna and re- 
turned thence in the shape of a proposal. Bourqueney first 
brought it from Vienna, Buol having obtained his Emperor's 
consent to it. Cowley told me Buol had been all along will- 
ing to Join us in the war, but the Emperor never would con- 
sent to it. Cowley's notions are that we never ought to have 
listened to any intervention, nor to any proposals for peace 
but from Kussia herself, that ^e should have m-ade her sue 
for peace. He would have had our demands from the first 
stated distinctly, and have allowed of nothing but accept- 
ance or refusal ; he would never have agreed to the article 
for the cession of Bessarabia, nor have asked for territory at 
all. If it could have been managed he would have preferred 
giving the Principalities to Austria, who should for them 
give up Lombardy to Sardinia. Not a bad idea. By the 
by, it is much noticed that in the Emperors Speech he calls 
the King of Sardinia the King of Piedmont, probably with- 
out any particular meaning or intention, but they say he 
never does anything without a meaning. I rode to the new 
racecourse yesterday, near the Bois de Boulogne, and went 
to the Opera last night to see a beautiful new ballet, "Le 
Corsaire." Went to Passy to see the Delesserts, who were 
out. 

In this head quarter of gossip every trifle makes a noise, 
a little scene in society excites interest and shows the con- 
tinued violence of party feeling. A party dined at Lord 
Holland's and more came in the evening, mostly, as it hap- 
pened, Orleanists, for the Hollands live with all parties in- 
discriminately. There were Mesdames de Kemusat, d'Haus- 
sonville, and several others of that color, when the door 
opened and MM. de Flahault and Morny were announced. 



1856.] DEJECTION OF LORD COWLEY. 299 

on which the women all Jumped up like a covey of partridges 
and walked out of the room, without taking any notice of 
the men. It is said that the Orleanist party entertain a pe- 
culiar rancor against M. de Flahault for having seen behind 
a door or a curtain the arrest of General Changarnier on the 
2d of December, which he afterward had the folly to avow. 

Af night. — Just before dinner came an invitation to go 
to the Tuileries to-night, which with much reluctance 1 was 
forced to do. Two petites pieces as on Sunday. I did not 
attempt to get into the gallery, and sat in the next room, 
first with Brunnow, then with the Grand Vizier, who is be- 
come a great friend of mine. The Emperor did nothing but 
take off one Plenipotentiary after another : first Clarendon, 
next Buol, then Orloff, and lastly Walewski, and probably 
more was done there than at the Conference in the morning. 
Brunnow and Walewski both told me the affair was progress- 
ing, and Cowley seemed very low coming home. His dejec- 
tion is extreme, and he said this morning that he could not 
recover from his extreme disappointment at the conduct of 
the Emperor, that he had always had a bad opinion of Walew- 
ski, and no reliance on him or any of the ministers, but he 
would have staked his life on the Emperor's remaining true 
to us, that he had always assured our Government that they 
might depend implicitly on him, and it was a bitter mortifi- 
cation to him to have been deceived himself and to deceive 
them. I asked him how Clarendon felt all this, and he said 
Clarendon had never spoken to him about it, and preserved 
a calmness which astonished him. ^' What," I asked, "did 
the Cabinet at home say?" He said, "They seemed to 
place entire confidence in Clarendon, and to leave all power 
and responsibility to him." 

March 8th. — Called on M. de Greffuhle yesterday, whom 
I had not seen for years. He is eighty, enormously rich, 
full of activity and intelligence, Orleanist by social habits, 
but well affected toward this Government and not hostile to 
the Emperor, though despising his Government. He said 
that he was coynpeJled to make peace, and that it would cost 
him his Crown if he did not ; that something would happen 
and then he would be upset, so great wonld be the conse- 
quences of his running counter to the universal desire for 
peace here ; that the finances are in a very difficult state and 
there must be another loan, but it would not be contracted 
like the last, which was a piece of absurd charlatanerie. 



300 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XL 

I went in the afternoon to see the Imperial stables, a 
wonderful establishment ; and then the stallions, near Passy. 
In the evening to Madame Baudon's, where I was presented 
to General Cavaignac, but had no conversation with him. 
He is a tall, gentlemanlike man, with a very military air. I 
was surprised to see him there in the midst of the Legiti- 
mists, he, a republican, but it seems he was once near mar- 
rying Madame Baudon, who was sous-gouvernante des En- 
fants de France when Madame de Gontaut was Gouvernante. 

March 2th. — Went about visiting as usual. Called on 
Achille Fould, who introduced me to Magne, Minister of 
Finance, said to be a great rogue. Everything here is in- 
trigue and jobbery, and I am told there is a sort of gang, 
of which Morny is the chief, who all combine for their own 
purpose and advantage : Morny, Fould, Magne, and Eouher, 
Minister of Commerce. They now want to get out Billault, 
Minister of the Interior, whom they cannot entirely manage, 
and that ministry is necessary to them on account of the 
railroads, which are under his management. Fould was full 
of civilities and offers of services, and he told me the Em- 
peror has a mind to talk to me ; whether anything will come 
of it I know not. I went thence to Madame de Galliera's, 
where I met Thiers and made a rendezvous with him for to- 
day ; then to Madame de Lieven, who had had Orloff with 
her ; lastly to Madame de Girardin and renewed our old 
acquaintance, dined with Delmar, and came home to a great 
party here. 

March lOih. — I called on Thiers yesterday, and had a 
long talk with him ; he declared he was happier unemployed 
and quite free than he had ever been ; he had been all for 
the war, and was now as much for peace — like every other 
Frenchman he considered it a necessity ; anxious as ever for 
the English alliance, and ridiculed the idea that we had not 
accomplished everything that our honor and glory required ; 
bitter against this Government, and maintained that the 
Emperor might very safely relax the severity of it without 
giving up anything ; indignant with the peculation and cor- 
ruption that prevailed, and the abominable acts of injustice 
committed, one of which he mentioned towards his own 
family. Very pleasant as usual. 

The news of the day was the dangerous illness of King 
Jerome, whose life hangs on a thread. This morning I went 
to St. Germains to see a staff hunt in the forest — a curious 



1356.] A CONCERT AT WALEWSKI'S. 301 

sight, with the old-fashioned meute ; the oflBcers, and those 
privileged to wear the uniform, in embroidered coats, jack- 
boots, and cocked hats ; piqueurs on horseback and foot with 
vast horns wonnd round their bodies ; the costume and the 
sport exactly as in the time of Louis XIV., rather tiresome 
after a time. The old chateau is a melancholy delabre build- 
ing, sad as the finishing career of its last Royal inhabitant. 
These recollections come thick upon one — Anne of Austria 
and the Fronde, Louis XIV. and Mademoiselle de la Valliere 
— for here their lives began. When the Queen was here she 
insisted on being taken up to see Mademoiselle de la Valliere's 
apartment, to mark which some slight ornaments remain. 
Here too James II. held his dismal Court and came to his 
unhappy and bigoted end. After it ceased to be a palace, it 
became successively a prison, a school, and a barrack, and 
now the Emperor has a fancy to restore it. 1 went at night 
to a great co^ncert at Walewski's^ where I fell in with Clar- 
endon, and found he was quite prepared to make peace even 
on such terms as he can get, in which I encouraged him, 
and to my surprise he said he did not think it would be a 
bad peace, thougli it was not so good as we might have got 
if the generals had done all they might, or if we had had 
another campaign. He asked me how I thought people 
would look on it in England, and I told him from all I 
heard I thought now the wish was for peace, and that the 
peace would be well enough taken. This he now thinks 
himself, and he said peace would certainly be concluded be- 
fore the end of the month. 

March IMh. — From Cowley's account the Conferences 
appear to be drawing to an end, as a committee has been 
formed to draw up the Treaty. It consists of Cowley, Bour- 
queney, Brunnow, Cavour, Buol, and the Grand Vizier. 
Cowley is still bemoaning the insufficiency of the terms, and 
while he admits the necessity of peace here^ maintains that if 
the Emperor would only have Joraed us in insisting upon the 
terms we wished to impose, it is certain the Russians would 
have consented to everything, for he says they now know 
from unquestionable information that the Russians expected 
much harder terms. The Emperor was, however, so beset by 
his entourage, and so- afraid of running the slightest risk of 
the Russians breaking off the negotiations, that he would 
not insist on anything which he was not certain the Russians 
would agree to, and Cowley says he thinks Clarendon was 



302 EEIGN or QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. 

not SO firm as he might have been, and if he had pressed the 
Emperor more strongly, that the latter would have yielded 
and told Orloil that, though anxious to make peace, he was 
still more anxious to continue on good terms with us, and 
that if the Russian Government wanted jDeace, they would 
only have it on such and such terms. All this may be true, 
and I am myself inclined to think the Russians would have 
agreed to our terms, if those terms had been heartily backed 
up by the Emperor ; but except to give something more of 
a triumph to the English public, I am not of opinion that 
the difference between what we required and what we shall 
get is worth much. When the denouement is before the 
world, it will appear how insane it was to plunge into such 
a war, and that the confusion and unsettled state of affairs 
which will be the result of it are more dangerous to the sta- 
bility of the Turkish Empire than the ambitious designs of 
Russia ever were. Whether the Emperor Nicholas was pre- 
mature or not in his idea of "the sick man," it will soon 
appear how sick the man will be left by the doctors who 
have stepped in to save him, and I believe the louleversement 
of the old Turkish dominion will have been greatly acceler- 
ated by the war and the consequences which will flow from 
the successes of the allies. % 

What Cowley particularly laments over is having failed 
to dismantle Nicolaieff and to stop the outlet from the Bug 
to the Black Sea, and having got no satisfactory arrange- 
ment with regard to the Circassian coast and the contiguous 
provinces which were ceded to Russia by the Treaty of 
Adrianople. We wanted that Russia should acknowledge 
the independence of these provinces or of some part of them ; 
but I cannot see of what use this would have been, and it 
would have been a m^atter of the greatest difficulty how to 
secure their independence and under what Government. 
There is a sort of sympathy with the Circassians in England, 
which would have made some stipulations with regard to 
them popular ; but the independence would be illusory, Rus- 
sia would soon reassert her authority, and our stipulations 
would become a dead letter, or we should be involved in end- 
less disputes without any satisfactory results. As to form- 
ing another coalition for the sake of semi-barbarous nation- 
alities on the coasts of the Caspian, nothing would be more 
impossible. England herself, who will soon recover from her 
madness, would not hear of it, and France still less. The 



1856.] BIETH OF THE PRINCE IMPERIAL. 303 

war was founded in delusion and error, and carried on by a 
factitious and ignorant enthusiasm, and we richly deserve to 
reap nothing but mortification and disappointment in return 
for all the blood and treasure we have spent. 

March IQth. — We passed the day in momentary expecta- 
tion of hearing of the Empress's confinement. No news 
arrived, but at six in the morning we were awakened from 
our beds by the sound of the cannon of the Invalides, which 
gave notice of a son. Will his fortune be more prosperous 
than that of the other Eoyal and Imperial heirs to the throne 
whom similar salvos have proclaimed ? It is a remarkable 
coincidence that the confinement was as difficult and dan- 
gerous as that of Marie Louise, with the same symptoms 
and circumstances, and that the doctor accoucheur (Dubois) 
in this instance was the son of the Dubois who attended the 
other Empress. From all I hear the event was received 
here with good will, but without the least enthusiasm, though 
with some curiosity, and the Tuileries Gardens were crowded. 
People were invited by the police to illuminate. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Lord Clarendon's favorable View of the Peace — General Evans' Proposal to embark after 
the Battle of Inkeriiian — Sir K. Lyons def-i-nds Lord IJairlan— I'eacc concluded — Sir J. 
Graham's gloomy View of Affairs — Kdward Kllice's Plan — Favor.ible Keception of the 
Peace — A Lull in Politics— A ^Sabbatarian Question— The Trial of Palmer for Murder — 
Defeat of the Opposition— Danjrer of War with the United States — Eistori as an 
Actress— Defeat of the Aj)pellate .lurisdiction liill — Return of the Guards— Uaron 
Parke on th'' Life Peerage — CUose of the Session— O'Donnell and Espartem in Spain — 
Chances of War— Coronation of the ("zar— Apathy of the Nation — Expen>e of the Coro- 
nation at Moscow — Interference at Naples— Koreif;n Relations — Progress of Democ- 
racy in England — Russia, France, Eng'land, and Naples — Russian Intripues with France 
The Boifrrad Question — The Quarrel with Naples— The Formation of Lord Palnier- 
ston's Government in 1855 — Death of Sir John Jervis — Sir Alexander Cockburn's Ap- 
pointment — James Wortley Solicitor-General— Conference on the Treaty of Paiis — 
Low Church Bishops — Leadership of the Opposition — Coolness in Paris — Dictatorial 
Policy to Brazil. 

London, March ^Ist, Good Friday. — I left Paris on Wednes- 
day morning with Mr. and Mrs. Eeeve, dined at Boulogne, 
crossed over in the evening, and arrived in London yesterday 
morning at eleven o'clock. When near Folkestone we were 
caught in a fog, lost our way, and were very near having 
to anchor and pass the night at sea. After a vast deal of 
whistling and bellowing, stopping and going on, the fog 



304 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

cleared a little, lights became visible, and we entered the 
harbor with no other inconvenience than having made 
a long detour, and being an hour later than our proj)er 
time. I regretted leaving Paris, where I was treated with 
so much affection and hospitality, and on the whole very 
well amused. On Monday, I dined Avith the Duchesse de 
Mouchy ; on Tuesday night Clarendon came after dinner 
to see me before my departure, and we had some talk about 
the peace and the terms. He spoke very cheerfully about 
it, and seems not at all dissatisfied, nor to feel any alarm 
about its reception. As it is, without at all acknowledging 
that he has made any sacrifices, he considers that the in- 
fluence he has acquired for England, particularly with 
Austria and Turkey, is far more valuable than any items of 
concession from Eussia would have been. Buol told him 
that he was now quite convinced that England was the 
Power to which Austria must really look with confidence and 
reliance on her honor and friendshii?, and the Turk was still 
more warm and vehement in assurances of the same kind. 
This was elicited from the Austrians by the fact of England 
having supported the condition of the Bessarabian cession, 
while France took part with Eussia and threw Austria over. 
Moreover, Clarendon does not, like Cowley, complain of the 
Emperor Napoleon, but speaks with great satisfaction of His 
Majesty's conduct to him, and the renewed cordiality with 
which he has recently expressed himself toward England, 
and for the maintenance of his alliance with us. In short, 
he evidently thinks, and not without reason, thab he will 
return, having obtained a sufficiently good peace, and having 
placed England in a very fine position. He said that he had 
been able to accomplish his task by being ready to incur 
responsibility at home, and by being able to act unfettered, 
and taking on himself to disregard any instructions or recom- 
mendations from home that he did not approve of. Yester- 
day I saw George Lewis and had a talk with him and his 
wife about Clarendon and the peace. He said he thought the 
peace quite sufficient;, and he did not understand what it was 
Cowley found fault with, nor why he is dissatisfied. He 
denies that we have given up anything that it would have 
been just and reasonable to stand out upon, and will not 
hear of taking an apologetic tone, but that Clarendon should 
defend the peace on its own merits. He thinks it will be 
well enough received in the House of Commons and by the 



1856.] SIR EDMUND LYONS'S NARRATIVE. 305 

country, and he is in good spirits about the GoTernment. 
He says Palmerston has been moderate and reasonable, and 
that he is not aware of Clarendon's having been harassed 
with any instructions, but left entirely to his OAvn discretion. 
They all think he has done exceedingly well. 

March 29th. — I went to Hatchford on Saturday last ; on 
Wednesday to Althorp. I met Sir Edmund Lyons at Hatch- 
ford, who talked incessantly about the incidents of the war 
and the conduct of the people concerned in it, and very in- 
teresting his talk was, for besides having been one of the 
most conspicuous and important actors in it, he was com- 
pletely in the confidence of the Commanders-in-Chief, and 
consulted by them on every occasion and with regard to all 
operations. He told us what had passed between Evans and 
Eaglan and between Evans and himself on a most important 
occasion, to tliis effect : Evans went to Eaglan immediately 
after the battle of Inkerman, and proposed to him to em- 
bark the army immediately, leaving their guns, and (Lyons 
says he is almost certain) their sick and wounded to the ene- 
my. Raglan said, ''But you forget the French : would you 
have us abandon them to their fate ?" He replied, ''You 
are Commander-in-Chief of the English army, and it is your 
business to provide for its safety. . . ." Raglan would not 
hear of the proposal. Almost immediately after Evans met 
Sir Edmund Lyons and told him what had passed with 
Raglan, and urged him to suggest the same course. Lyons 
made the same observation about the French that Raglan 
had done, and said one of two things would happen : either 
the French would take Sebastopol alone, when we should be 
covered with shame and dishonor, or they would fail and 
probably suffer some great disaster. The expression of 
" perfide Albion " had long been current in France, and then 
indeed it would be well deserved and Avould become a per- 
petual term of reproach against us. These rebuffs did not 
prevent Evans going on board ship and there giving out that 
the army would in a few days be obliged to embark, and 
Captain Dacres came to Lyons and told him he heard this 
was going to happen. Lyons asked hi.m where he had heard 
this, and he said Evans had announced it, and talked of it 
unreservedly as certain to happen. Lyons said, " It is false ; 
the army will not go away, and Sebastopol will be taken. It 
is very mischievous that such reports should circulate, and I 
order you not to allow such a thing to be said by anybody on 



306 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XH. 

board your ship, and to contradict it in the most positive 
manner. " 

Everything that Lyons said, and it may be added all one 
hears in every way, tends to the honor and the credit of Eag- 
lan, and I am glad to record this because I have always had 
an impression that much of the difficulty and distress of the 
army in 1854 was owing to his want of energy and manage- 
ment. He was not a Wellington certainly, and probably he 
might have done more and better than he did, but he was 
unquestionably, on the whole, the first man in the army, and 
if he had not been continually thwarted by the French, 
would have done more. While many here were crying out 
for placing our army under the command of French generals, 
and recalling Eaglan (and I must confess I had myself a con- 
siderable leaning that way), he was struggling against the 
shortcomings or the inactivity of Canrobert and Pelissier. 
Canrobert acknowledged that he had not nerves sufficient 
for the duties of his station, and he never could be got to 
agree to adopt the bold offensive movements which Eaglan 
was continually urging upon him, especially after the battle 
of Inkerman, when Eaglan entreated him to follow up the 
discomfited Eussians, his whole army being ready and not 
above 1,500 of them having been engaged. With Pelissier, 
Eaglan had very little to do, for his death occurred soon after 
Pelissier took the command. 

Lyons gave us an interesting account of Eaglan's last 
illness. He seemed to have no idea that he was in serious 
danger, nor had the people about him. At last, when he was 
so rapidly sinking that the doctors saw his end was approach- 
ing, and it was deemed necessary to apprise him thereof, he 
would not believe it, and he insisted to his aide-de-camp who 
told him of his state that he was better, and he fell into a 
state of insensibility without ever having been conscious of 
his dying condition. One of the best authenticated charges 
against Eaglan was that of his not showing himself to his 
soldiers, and it was said many believed that he had quitted 
the camp ; at last this idea became so prevalent that his own 
stafF felt the necessity of something being said to him about 
it, but none dared, for it seems they were all exceedingly 
afraid of him. At last they asked Lyons if he would speak 
to him and tell him what was said. Lyons said he had 
no scruple or difficulty in so doing, and told him plainly 
the truth. Eaglan not only took it in good part, but 



1356.] PEACE CONCLUDED. 307 

thanked him very much, and said his reason for not riding 
round all the divisions was that he could not prevent the 
soldiers turning out to salute him, and he could not hear to 
see this ceremony done by the men who had been all night 
in the trenches or otherwise exposed to fatigue, and that this 
was the sole reason why he had abstained, but henceforward 
he would make a point of riding round every day, and so he 
ever after did ; so that the main fact as reported by " corre- 
spondents " was not devoid of truth. I wish I could recollect 
all the various anecdotes Lyons told us, but I neglected to 
pat them down at the time, and now they have faded from 
my memory. He discussed the qualities of the English 
generals with reference to the command of the army after 
Raglan's death. lie never had well understood why it was 
that Colin Campbell was always considered out of the 
question, and his own opinion seemed to be that he was the 
fittest man. The French thought so, and one of the alleged 
reasons against him, viz., that he could not speak French, was 
certainly not true. Simpson was very reluctant to take the 
command at first, and wrote home to say so, but after he had 
received certain flattering encouragements his op2:)osition 
waxed fainter, and by the time it was taken from him he 
became anxious to retain it. Raglan was not at all annoyed 
at Simpson's being sent there, and did what he pleased with 
him. Simpson never attempted to interfere with him or to 
control him in any way, but on the contrary Avas entirely 
subservient to Raglan. 

April Isf. — News of peace reached London on Sunday 
evening, and was received joyfully by the populace, not from 
any desire to see an end of the war, but merely because it is 
a great event to make a noise about. The newspapers have 
been reasonable enough, except the " Sun," which appeared 
in deep mourning and with a violent tirade against peace. 

April 3d. — Yesterday I met Graham at the Council Office, 
where he had come to attend a committee. Since the for- 
mation of Aberdeen's Government three years ago I have 
hardly ever seen him, and have never had any conversation 
with iiim. Yesterday he sat down and began talking over 
the state of affairs generally, and the prospects of the 
country, which he considers very gloomy and full of danger, 
more particularly from the outrageous license of the press, 
which has now arrived at a pitch perfectly intolerable, but 
which it is impossible to check or control. Then the total 



308 REIGN" OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

destruction of parties and of party ties and connexions, to 
say nothing of the antipathies and disagreements of such 
public men as these are. He says there is not one man in 
the House of Commons who has ten followers, neither Glad- 
stone, nor Disraeli, nor Palmerston. The Government goes 
on because there is no organized opposition prepared and able 
to take its place, and the Government receives a sufficiency 
of independent support, because all feel that the business of 
the country must be carried on, and hitherto Palmerston 
has been supported as a War Minister, and the best man to 
carry on the war ; but Graham is very doubtful what will 
happen when the discussions on the peace and all matters 
relating to the war are over, and other questions (principally 
of domestic policy) come into play. Palmerston, always san- 
guine, fancies he can stand, but it is very doubtful, for he is 
not backed by a party constituting a majority ; the Treasury 
Bench is very weak, and Palmerston himself a poor and 
inefficient conductor of the Government in the House. John 
Eussell has taken up the question of education, which he 
hopes to render popular, and through it means again to 
recover his former influence and authority. He said that 
John Eussell is (in spite of all that happened last year) 
more looked up to by the Whig party than Palmerston, 
and that they would rather have him for their leader, as, 
notwithstanding the faults he has committed, he is by 
far the ablest man, has a much greater grasp of intellect, 
more foresight, and is much more of a statesman, and has 
more fixed principles. Palmerston (Graham thinks) has a 
passionate love of office and power, and will cling to it with 
tenacity to the last, and never resign it but on compulsion, 
not caring with whom he acts, nor on what principles. This, 
I think, is partly true and partly false. I do not think he 
cares whom he acts with, but I do not believe he is quite in- 
different as to the principles. He says Lewis has done well, 
and is liked in the House of Commons, and Gladstone likes 
him and gives him a cordial support ; that Baines is a good 
man, and those two are the most respected and considered 
of all the men on the Treasury Bench, th» House' accepting 
their sterling qualities in place of greater brilliancy such as 
Gladstone can command ; that Gladstone is certainly the 
ablest man there, though it is still doubtful whether his 
talents are equal to such an emergency as the present to 
master public opinion, enlist it on his side, and to adminis- 



1856.] SIR JAMES GRAHAM ON THE STATE OF PARTIES. 309 

ter the Government on certain principles of administrative 
reform, which Graham himself considers necessary. His 
religious opinions, in which he is zealous and sincere, enter 
so largely into his political conduct as to form a very serious 
obstacle to his success, for they are abhorrent to the majority 
of this Protestant country, and (I was rather surprised to 
hear him say) Graham thinks approach very nearly to Rome. 
Gladstone would have nothing to do with any Government 
unless he were leader in the House of Commons, and when 
that Government is formed, there should be joreviously a 
clear and distinct understanding on what principles it was 
founded and what their course of action should be. His 
tone is now that of disclaiming party connections, and being 
ready to join with any men who are able and willing to com- 
bine in carrying out such measures as are indispensably 
necessary for the good government of the country, such a 
system as he briefly shadowed out in his speech at tlie Man- 
sion House the other day. Graham's idea is, that in the 
event of this Government breaking down, the best chance of 
another being formed would be by Clarendon undertaking 
it, whom on the whole he regards as the man best fitted by 
his experience and ability to be at the head of affairs ; that 
he and Gladstone might be brought together, but would 
Lord John consent to go to the Lords, and to serve under 
Clarendon as President of the Council and Head of the Edu- 
cation Department ? This opens qiiestions full of doubt and 
difficulty. Derby, he thinks, has no desire to form another 
Government, and would prefer to go on as he is now, leader 
of a large party of Peers who are willing to follow him and 
to make the House of Lords one of the scenes and instru- 
ments of his amusements as usual, provided it supplies him 
with occupation and excitement, indifferent to the conse- 
quences and to the mischief he may do. Disraeli appears to 
be endeavoring to approach Gladstone, and a confederacy 
between those two and young Stanley is by no means an im- 
probability. What Stanley is disposed to do and capable of 
doing is still an enigma, and although his speeches are not 
devoid of matter, they are without a particle of the spirit 
and stirring eloquence of his father. 

The change which has taken place in the country pre- 
sents to Graham a most alarming prospect. Hitherto it has 
been governed by parties, and patronage has been the great 
instrument of keeping parties together ; whereas Sir Robert 



310 REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. XH. 

Peel has destroyed party, which had now entirely ceased to 
exist ; and between the press, the jDublic opinion which the 
press had made, and the views of certain people in Parlia- 
ment, of whom Gladstone is the most eminent and strenu- 
ous, patronage was either destroyed or going rapidly to 
destruction. The only hope of escaping from great perils 
was in that broad stratum of good sense and firmness which 
still existed in the country, and of which manifestations had 
been recently given. He admires the resolute and unflinch- 
ing spirit with which the war had been entered into, carried 
on, and the country was quite willing to persist in ; and not 
less the sensible and reasonable manner in which the peace, 
by which they were mortified and disappointed, had been 
acquiesced in, for he says that it is beyond all question that 
there is throughout the country a strong feeling of mortifica- 
tion and regret that we have not played a more brilliant 
part, and that our share of glory has been less than that of 
our ally, and there would have been a general feeling of ex- 
ultation and satisfaction if we had fought another campaign 
in order to end the war with greater eclat. But this senti- 
ment has been sufliciently mastered by prudent considera- 
tions and a just appreciation of the circumstances of Europe 
generally, and of our relations Avith other Powers, to check 
all ebullitions of mortified pride, and to induce a prudent 
reserve and acquiesce in the management of the Government, 
and in a spirit like this there appears some hope for the 
future. "We had a very long talk about these and other 
matters, the substance of which I record as it recurs to my 
mind. 

A day or two before I met Ellice at Hillingdon, where 
we interchanged our thoughts, and a good deal that he said 
was much in Graham's sense : that this Government could 
not stand but by being remodelled, and his notion is that 
half of it should be got rid of, the Peelites taken in, and Lord 
John to go to the House of Lords as President of the Coun- 
cil, Granville taking Cowley's place as ambassador at Paris, 
and Cowley replacing Stratford Canning at Constantinople. 
A propos of Stratford Canning, Graham thinks the Opposi- 
tion will attack the Government and not the ambassador on 
the case of Kars, and that it is not impossible they may 
carry a vote of censure against them, which I told him I did 
not believe was possible, or that they could be able to carry 
any resolution affecting the Government so much as to com- 



1856.] PALMERSTON'S POSITION IMPROVED. 311 

pel their resignation, and I suggested to him how fatal this 
would be to his scheme of reorganizing a Government under 
Clarendon, as such censure would more especially touch him, 
and this would make it impossible for the Queen to entrust 
the formation of another Government to his hands. 

April 1th. — Since my conversation with Graham, I have 
learned from the Duke of Bedford that Lord John is not 
very much disinclined to go to the House of Lords, particu- 
larly as his position in reference to his seat for the City is so 
embarrassing. The Dissenters, always unreasonable and un- 
grateful, will not forgive his speech upon Church Kates the 
other night, and his general popularity is gone. Then it is 
probably a consideration with him to secure to his family 
the settlement his brother will make on him if he takes the 
peerage. 

London, May Uh. — For nearly a month I have let this 
journal fall into arrear, during which period the most in- 
teresting occurrences have been the return of Clarendon, the 
publication of the conditions of peace with the accompany- 
ing protocols, and the debate upon Kars. AYitli regard to 
the peace. Clarendon comes very well out of his mission, and 
no fault is found with the peace. The Kars debate was a 
great error on the part of the Opposition, and ended with a 
great triumph for the Government. Just before it, Palmer- 
ston called a meeting of his supporters, where he harangued 
them with great success, and managed to rally them round 
him with more of zeal and cordiality than they have hither- 
to shown. His position is certainly improved, and accord- 
ing to present appearances he will get through the session 
without much difficulty. All agree that he has been doing 
well in the House of Commons ; his assiduity, his punctual 
attendance, and his popular manners make him agreeable 
to the House, and he has exhibited greater facility and re- 
source in dealing with all sorts of miscellaneous subjects 
than anybody gave him credit for. There is not the small- 
est danger of the peace proving dangerous to him, and it is 
evident that the House of Commons, however independent 
and undisciplined it may be, will not allow him to be placed 
in any danger, and is determined not to have any change 
of Government at present. The Peelites and John Rus- 
sell supported him and had nothing else to do, for they are 
neither of them in a condition to attempt to play a game of 
their own. 



312 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

May 14:th. — Every day my disinclination to continue this 
work (which is neither a journal nor anything else) increases, 
but I have at the same time a reluctance to discontinue en- 
tirely an occupation which has engaged me for forty years, 
and in which I may still find from time to time something 
to record which may hereafter be deemed worth reading, 
and so at long intervals, and for short periods, I resume my 
reluctant pen. 

We are now in the Whitsuntide holidays, in a profound 
political and parliamentary calm, the Government perfectly 
secure, Palmerston very popular, the Opposition disheartened 
and disunited, and having managed their matters as awk- 
wardly and stupidly as possible, attacking the Government 
on questions and points on which the assailants were sure to 
be beaten, and strengthening instead of weakening it by their 
abortive attempts. There was great difference of opinion 
among them about fighting battles, on Kars, and on the 
peace ; Lyndhurst and Derby were against, Disraeli was for. 
Eoebuck, whom I fell in with on Sunday in a railway train, 
told me that if they had laid hold of the one point of the 
protocol in the Belgian press, and worked this well, they 
might have put the Government in a minority, but they 
missed this obvious opportunity.^ I called on Lyndhurst 
yesterday, who said they had unaccountably overlooked this 
plausible topic. He is going to make a speech on Italy when 
Parliament meets, and we agreed entirely that either too 
much or too little was done at Paris on this question, and 
that either it ought not to have been entertained and dis- 
cussed at all, or some more decided measures ought to have 
been adopted with regard to it. To stir up such delicate 
questions, and leave them in their present unhappy condi- 
tion, is an egregious error. 

The questions of war and of peace having now ceased to 
interest and excite the public mind, a religious question has 
sprung up to take their place for the moment, which though 
not at present of much importance, will in all probability 
lead to more serious consequences hereafter. Sir Benjamin 
Hall having bethought himself of providing innocent amuse- 
ment for the Londoners on Sunday, established a Sunday 

1 [An atternpt had been made at tlie Congress of Paris by Coiint Walewski 
to bring forward some measure or resolution reflecting on the independence of 
the press in Belgium. It led to nothing, but Lord Clarendon was accused of not 
havmg protested against it with sufficient energy.] 



1856.] A SABBATARIAN QUESTION. 313 

playing of military bands in Kensington Gardens and in tlie 
other parks and gardens about the metropolis, which has 
been carried on, witli the sanction of tlie Government, with 
great success for several Sundays. Some murmurs were 
heard from the puritanical and Sabbatarian party, but Palmer- 
ston having declared himself favorable to the practice in the 
House of Commons, the opposition appeared to cease. The 
puritans, however, continued to agitate against it in meet- 
ings and in the ))ress, though the best part of the latter was 
favorable to the bands, and at last, when a motion in Parlia- 
ment was threatened to insist on the discontinuance of the 
music, the Cabinet thought it necessary to reconsider the 
subject. They were informed that if the Government re- 
sisted the motion they would be beaten, and moreover that 
no man could support them in opposition to it without great 
danger of losing his seat at the next election. It is stated 
that the Sabbatarians are so united and numerous, and their 
organization so complete, that all over the country they 
would be able to influence and probably carry any election, 
and that this influence would be brought to bear against 
every man who maintained by his vote this "desecration of 
the Sabbath." Accordingly it was resolved by the Cabinet 
to give way, and the only question was how to do so with 
anything like consistency and dignity. The Archbishop of 
Canterbury was made the "Deus ex maehina" to effect this 
object. He was made to write a letter to the Premier repre- 
senting the feelings of the people and begging the bands 
might be silenced. To this Palmerston wrote a reply in 
which he repeated his own opinion in favor of the music, 
but that in deference to the public sentiment he would put 
an end to their playing. All this has excited a good deal of 
interest and discussion. For the present, the only question 
is whether the angry public will not vent its indignation and 
resentment to-morrow in acts of uproar and violence ; but 
though these acts will not be serious or lasting if they do 
take place, it may be expected that the Sabbatarians will not 
rest satisfied with their triumph, but will endeavor to make 
fresh encroachments on our free will and our habits and pur- 
suits, and that fresh and more serious contests will arise out 
of this beginning. 

May 28ih {day of the Derby). — Yesterday on Epsom race- 
course arrived the news of Palmer's being found guilty of 
the murder of Cook. This case and the trial have excited 

14 



314 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOKIA. [Chap. XII. 

an interest almost unprecedented, nnlike anything since the 
case of Thnrtell about twenty years ago or more. People 
who never heard of either of the men took the deepest in- 
terest in it, the women particularly, though there was noth- 
ing peculiar in it or of a nature to excite them particularly. 
The trial lasted a fortnight, all the details of it were read 
with the greatest avidity, half the town went one day or 
other to hear it, and the anxiety that the man should be 
convicted was passionate. Cockburn gained great applause 
by the manner in which he conducted the prosecution. 

This trial has proved more attractive and interesting than 
anything in the political world, though there has been a 
pitched battle in the Lords on the question of Maritime Law 
and Right of Search given up in the recent Treaty. Derby 
made a violent onslaught on the Government, and was at 
first very confident of a majority. He soon found these 
hopes were fallacious, when he got angry and was more vio- 
lent than he has ever been before this session. The Govern- 
ment got a majority of above fifty, which puts an end to any 
further contest there. The Government have now nothing 
to fear, the Opposition are routed and dispirited, and one 
can see nothing to alter the present state of affairs. The 
minor questions which have occupied attention are settling 
quietly. The Chelsea Commission is over, and the result 
will be harmless, on the whole rather good than bad, because 
it will prove that the violent attacks on the military authori- 
ties during the war have been exaggerated and in many cases 
unfounded. A sort of compromise has been made about the 
"Wensleydale peerage, not a very happy one, and it remains 
to be seen whether the House of Commons is sufficiently ac- 
quiescent as to sanction it by agreeing to the 12,000/. a year 
to be paid to two new judges and peers for life. The Gov- 
ernment have virtually abandoned the principle they con- 
tended for, and have yielded to the adverse vote and Com- 
mittee. When they appeal to Parliament and limit the 
number of life peerages, they abandon the prerogative of the 
Crown. 

June 1st. — The state of affairs with America becomes 
more and more alarming.^ Grey told me the other night 

1 [In consequence of the dispute with the American Government on the sub- 
ject of Foreinjn Enlistment, Mr. Crarapton, the British Minister, -was ordered to 
leave Washm2:ton on May 2Sth. He arrived in England on June 15th; but 
Lord Palmerston stated in the House of Commons that the dismissal of Mr. 
Crampton did not break off diplomatic relations with the United States, as Mr. 



1856.] DANGER OF WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES. 315 

that he had had a long conversation with Dallas, whose tone 
was anything but reassuring as to the prosj)ect of peaca ; and 
yesterday I met Tliackeray, who is Just returned from the 
United States. He thinks there is every probability of the 
quarrel leading to war, for there is a very hostile spirit, con- 
stantly increasing, throughout the States, and an evident 
desire to quarrel with us. He says he has never met with a 
single man who is not persuaded that they are entirely in the 
right and we in the wrong, and they are equally persuaded 
if war ensues that they will give us a great thrashing ; they 
don't care for the consequences, their riches are immense, 
and 200,000 men would appear in arms at a moment's notice. 
Here, however, though there is a great deal of anxiety, there 
is still a very general belief that war cannot take place on 
grounds so trifling between two countries which have so great 
and so equal an interest in remaining at peace with each 
other. But in a country where the statesmen, if there are 
any, have so little influence, and where the national policy 
is subject to the passions and caprices of an ignorant and 
unreasoning mob, there is no security that good sense and 
moderation will prevail. Many imagine that matters will 
proceed to the length of a diplomatic rupture, that Oram])- 
ton will be sent away and Dallas retire in consequence, and 
that then by degrees the present heat will cool down, and 
matters be amicably arranged without a shot being fired. I 
feel no such confidence, for if diplomatic intercourse ceases 
numerous causes of complaint will ari-e, and as there will be 
no means left for mutual and friendly explanation and ad- 
justment, such causes will be constantly exaggerated and in- 
flamed into an irreconcilable quarrel. Matters cannot long 
go on as they now are without the ])ublic here becoming ex- 
cited and angry, and the press on both sides insolent, violent, 
and provoking, and at last, going on from one step to an- 
other, we shall find ourselves drifted into this odious and on 
both parts suicidal contest, for there is not a bloAv we can 
strike at America and her interests that will not recoil on us 
and our own. It has often been remarked that civil wars 
are of all wars the most furious, and a war between America 
and England would have all the chai'acteristics of a civil and 
an international contest ; nor, though I have no doubt that 

Dallas remained in this country. It is remarkable that within a few months or 
even weeks two British Ministers received their passports Irom foreign govern- 
ments and were sent away — a very uncommon occurrence 1] 



316 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

America is in the wrong, can I persuade myself that we are 
entirely in the right on either of the principal points in dis- 
nute. We have reason to congratulate ourselves that the 
Eussian war is over, for if it had gone on and all our ships 
had been in the Baltic, and all our soldiers in the Crimea, 
nothing would have prevented the Americans from seizing 
the opportunity of our hands being full to bring their dis- 
pute with us to a crisis. 

June Wi. — 1 went last night to see the celebrated Ristori 
in a very bad play called "Medea," being a translation into 
Italian from a French tragedy by a M. Legouve. This play 
was written for Madame Rachel, who refused to act the part, 
which refusal led to a lawsuit, in which the actress was ([ 
think) defeated. Ristori is certainly a fine actress, but she 
did not appear to me equal to Pasta in the same part, or to 
other great actresses I have seen. However, my inability 
to hear well and want of familiarity with Italian acting 
and imperfect knowledge of the language disqualify me from 
being a competent judge. 

The American horizon is rather less dark. Nothing is 
yet known as to Crampton's dismissal, and Dallas does not 
believe it. The Danish Minister at Washington writes over 
here that he thinks that the clouds will disperse and there 
will be no serious quarrel. 

London, July Vltli. — After the lapse of a month or more, 
during which I could not bring myself to record anything, 
or to comment upon passing events, I am at last roused from 
my apathy, and am induced to take up my pen and say a 
word upon the defeat of the Appellate Jurisdiction Bill in the 
House of Commons the other night, which gave me the 
greatest satisfaction, because I regard it as a just punishment 
for the stupid obstinacy with which the Government have 
blundered on from one fault to another throughout this 
whole business. It has been a complete comedy of errors, 
and every one who has taken a part in it has been in the 
wrong. I told Granville how it would be in the first instance, 
and urged him, after the House of Lords had refused to let in 
Parke as a life peer, to accept the defeat quietly by making 
him an hereditary peer and thus give the go-by to the 
main question. This nothing would induce them to do, and 
they fancied that they could avoid the mortification of ap- 
pearing to knock under, and save their own consistency, by 
the contrivance of this bill. Every mischief that it was 



1866.] BARON PARKE ON THE LIFE PEERAGE. 317 

possible to do they have managed to accomplish, and the 
leaders of the opposite parties, who all felt themselves in a 
scrape, came to a sort of compromise in the Lords' Com- 
mittee, the result of which was this unpopular bill. Among 
them they have assailed the prerogative of the Crown, they 
have damaged the judicial authority of the House of Lords, 
they have deeply offended many of their own friends by 
tendering to them such a measure, and they have behaved 
most unkindly and unhandsomely to Baron Parke, who 
thinks he has great reason to complain. 

I have been at Knowsley for the last three days, and so 
missed the march of the Guards into London on Wednesday. 
Lord Ilardinge was struck down by paralysis as he was 
speal\ing to the Queen at Aldershot on Tuesday last. It is 
su[)posed that the Duke of Cambridge will succeed him, and 
that Jim Macdonald will be his Military Secretary. The 
American question is still undecided, but everybody ajjpears 
to be very easy about it. 

July 20th. — I met Baron Parke the otlier day, who talked 
over his affair, complained of the treatment he had received 
from the Government, but said he gathered from what the 
Chancellor had said to him that they meant now to make 
him an hereditary peer, declared there was not a shadow of 
doubt about the legality, and that Campbell had as little 
doubt as he himself had, but finding the measure was un- 
popular with certain lawyers, he had suddenlv turned against 
his own recorded opinion and o])posed it. The Baron said 
the Government were greatly to blame for not having ven- 
tilated the question, and ascertained whether they could 
carry it or not, and if he had had an idea of all the bother 
it had made, he never would have had anything to do with 
it. George Lewis told me that the life peerage had never 
been brought before the Cabinet, and he knew nothing of it 
till he saw it in the Gazette, nor did Clarendon ; in fact it 
was confined to the Chancellor, Granville, and Palmerston. 
They none of them, however, know with whom it originated. 
Now that the measure turns out to bo so unpopular and is 
so scouted, and the transaction has been attended with so 
many blunders and defeats, no one is willing to accept the 
responsibility of it, or to acknowledge having had anything 
to do with it. It is strange that Palmerston should ever have 
consented to it, but he knew nothing and cared nothing 
about it ; he was probably assured it would go down without 



318 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

anv difficulty, and in this poco curante way he suffered him- 
self to be committed to it, not seeing the storm it would 
cause. He allowed Granville to manao:e it all his own way, 
and at List he had the good luck to be beaten upon it in the 
House ot Commons, for the scrape would have been more 
eerious if he had carried it there. These last days of the 
session have been as usual marked by the withdrawal and 
abandonment of various bills that were for the most part in- 
troduced at the beginning of it, and which were found to be 
quite worthless, especially the Law Eeform Bill. 

London, July %lth. — Parliament has finished its debates, 
and will be prorogued on Tuesday. Dizzy wound up by a 
" review of the session," a species of entertainment which 
used to be given annually some years ago by Lord Lyndhurst 
with great skill and eiiect, but which on the present occa- 
sion, and in Disraeli's hands, was singularly inopportune and 
ineffective. Lord Wensleydale has at last taken his scat as 
an hereditary peer ; the Government, alter various abortive 
attempts to wriggle out of their absurd position, having done 
at last what they ought to have done at first — knocked under 
and endured what could not be cured. The Government go 
into summer and winter quarters in a very healthy and pros- 
perous state, with nothing apparently to apprehend, and 
with every probability of meeting Parliament next year in 
the same "^condition, and, bariing accidents, going through 
next session as successfully as they have gone through this. 

August Ath. — I was at Goodwood all last week ; the 
Prince of Prussia came there. Not a word of news ; the 
Queen still engaged in reviewing the troops, and compli- 
mentary fetes are still going on to Sir W. Williams of Kars, 
and Charles Wyndham^' the hero of the Redan." The dis- 
turbances in Spain seem to be over, and O'Donnell remains 
victorious. My first impression was (the common one) that 
Espartero had been ousted by an intrigue, and that it was a re- 
actionary coup cVetat, but I now hear that it is no such thing, 
and that we ought to desire the success of the present Gov- 
ernment. Espartero and O'Donnell could not agree, as was 
not unlikely in a coalition Government the two chiefs of 
which were men of such different opinions and antecedents. 
After many abortive attempts to reconcile their differences, 
it was a<rreed that a council of Ministers should be held 
which the Queen herself should preside over, and when a 
final attempt should be made. A long discussion took place, 



185G.] CHANCES OF WAR. 319 

and the queen did all she could to reconcile the two generals, 
and to enable the Government to go on unchanged. Finding 
it impossible to effect this, she ended by saying, " Well, 
gentlemen, since I cannot prevail on you to go on together, I 
must needs choose between you, and as 1 think Marshal 
O'Donnell will be the best able to carry on the Government, 
I appoint him." Then the National Guards began an insur- 
rection which was put down, but no violent measures seem 
to have been adopted, and O'Donnell has declared that Spain 
can only be successfully governed on constitutional princi- 
ples, and that he means to retain the Cortes in its integrity. 
How far his acts will correspond with his professions remains 
to be seen. Narvaez was recommended to go to France, and 
Queen Christina appears not to have been allowed to return 
to Spain, which are good signs. It is a good thing for Spain 
tliat Espartero should have retired, for though probably the 
honestest Spaniard, he is at the same time the weakest and 
the most wanting in moral courage and decision. 

History is full of examples of the slight and accidental 
causes on which the greatest events turn, and of such ex- 
amples the last war seems very full. Charles Wyndham 
told me that nothing but a very thick fog which happened 
on the morning of Inkerman prevented the English army 
being swept from their position and totally discomfited. 
The Russians could see nothing, lost their own way, and 
mistook the position of the British troops. Had the weather 
been clear so that they had been able to execute their plans, 
we could not have resisted them ; a defeat instead of the 
victory we gained would have changed the destiny of the 
world, and have produced effects which it is imjDossible to 
contemplate or calculate. 

On the other hand, nothing but miscalculation and bad 
management prevented the capture of Sebastopol immedi- 
ately after Alma, My nephew is just returned from a voy- 
age with Lord Lyons to the Crimea, where he went all over 
the scenes of the late contest, all the positions, and the ruins 
of Sebastopol as well as the northern forts. He was well 
treated by the Russians, who showed him everything, and 
talked over the events of the war with great frankness. 
Tiiey told him that if the allies had marched at once after 
the battle on the north side, no resistance could have been 
made, and the other side must have fallen. We had long 
known that the north side would have fallen if we had at- 



320 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XH. 

tacked it at once. Frank asked the Eussian officer whether 
there was any bad feeling on the part of the Eussian army 
toward the French or English, and he said none whatever, 
but a great deal toward the Austrians, and that they desired 
nothing more than an opportunity of fighting them. He 
also said that they had been misled by our newspapers, from 
which they obtained all their information, and thinking 
that the announcements there of an intended invasion of the 
Crimea were made for the purpose of deceiving them, they 
had withdrawn a great many troops from the Crimea, so 
that while Sebastopol had been emptied of the garrison to 
increase the army of Menschikoif, the Eussians had not 
more than 30,000 or 35,000 men at the Alma. 

Ilillingdon, August Yltli. — It is impossible to find any- 
thing of the least interest to write about, and my journal is 
in danger of dying of starvation or of atrophy. The causes 
of discontent we have had with Eussia are disappearing, and 
the Emperor's coronation will not be clouded by fresh 
doUances on our part. Bulwer is just gone to the Princi- 
palities, where the commissioners are to endeavor to ascer- 
tain what are the wishes of the people as to the union. 
France and England are in favor of it, Turkey and Austria 
against it, while Eussia professes to be indififerent and neu- 
tral. Spain is settling down into submission to the Govern- 
ment of O'Donnell. Naples is relieved from her fears of 
English intervention, and there seems some chance that she 
may relax the rigor of her Government now that she may do 
so salvo lionore and not under compulsion. This country is 
profoundly tranquil and generally prosperous ; everybody 
seems satisfied with Palmerston and his administration. I 
myself, who for so many years regarded him politically with 
the greatest aversion and distrust, have come to think him 
the best minister we can have, and to wish him well. 

September 15t7i. — Another month has passed away, and 
still I have had nothing to record. The coronation at Mos- 
cow appears to have gone off with great eclat, and to have 
been a spectacle of extraordinary magnificence, the prodi- 
gious cost of which betrays no sign of exhaustion or im- 
poverishment by the late war.^ We were probably mistaken, 

1 [The Emperor Alexander II. of Eussia "was crowned with great pomp in 
Moscow on September 7 ; the ceremony was attended by special ambassadors 
from all the great Powers ; Lord Granville, accompanied by Lady Granville and 
a brilliant suite, was the representative of Great Britain on this occasion.] 



1856.] THE CORONATION AT MOSCOW. 321 

as we were in so many other things, in fancying that the 
power and resources of Russia were very greatly impaired, 
but during the war, whatever we wished we were ready to 
believe. 

The state of affairs at home and abroad is curious : 
abroad there is uneasiness and uncertainty as to the future, 
the elements of future disturbances being in a sort of abey- 
ance ; at home the fever and excitement which prevailed 
during the war having been succeeded by a torpor and an 
apathy such as I never remember to have seen before. All 
party politics seem to be extinct, the country cares about 
nobody, desires no changes, and only wishes to go on and 
prosper. There is not a public man to whom public opinion 
turns, and no great questions are afloat to agitate and divide 
the country, or around the standards of which diflerent 
opinions, principles, or passions can flock. Palmerston may 
remain Minister as long as he lives, if he does not commit 
any gross faults either of commission or of omission, or unless 
something may occur, which nobody can foresee or imagine, 
to rouse the nation from its apathy. 

September 21st. — The old Crimean correspondent of the 
''Times" has despatched a very interesting and graphic 
account of the coronation at JVloscow, and Granville writes 
word that whereas he had estimated the cost of it at a 
million sterling, he was now led to believe it would be not 
much less than three. The coronation of George IV. cost 
240,000/., which was considered an enormous sum and a 
monstrous extravagance. Our last two coronations cost from 
30,000/. to 50,000/. 

The quarrel with the King of Naples appears to be com- 
ing to a crisis, and though it will not produce any serious 
consequences now, the precedent of interference we are estab- 
lishing may have very important ones at some future time, 
and though philanthropy may make us rejoice at some 
coercion being applied to put an end to such a cruel and 
oppressive government as that of King Bomba (as they call 
Ferdinand), it may be doubted whether it would not be 
sounder policy to abstain from interference with what only 
indirectly and remotely concerns us, and from enforcing a 
better and more humane system of government in a country 
where the people do not seem to care much about its tyranny 
and inhumanity. And then there is the great objeciion of 
dictating to aiid interfering: with weak governments wbile 



333 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

W8 do not Tenture to deal in the same way witli the equally 
Ila,grant abominations of stronger ones, to say nothing of a 
lioit of difficulties and objections which suggest themselves 
as possible, if not probable, results of our interference. It 
will alford to other Powers an excuse if not a right to inter- 
fere in like manner, whenever they require a pretext, and 
they consider it their interest to do so ; and if such cases 
occur, the peace of the world will be largely endangered. As 
it is, I strongly suspect (for I know nothing) that the agree- 
ment on the Neapolitan question between France and our- 
selves is by no means cordial and complete. Mrs. Craven 
writes me word she has been in a house in the country with 
W.ilewski, who talked very openly (and no doubt impru- 
dently) to her, telling her that Palmerston was very difficult 
to go on with. I know not what Palmerston has been doing, 
nor'what his present policy may be, but I thought he had 
either abandoned or greatly modified that old policy of med- 
dling and bullying to which he used to be so addicted, and at 
all events that while the foreign policy of England is directed 
by Clarendon, we should abstain from anything very arbitrary 
and violent. It is, however, whispered that Walewski is no 
longer in the good graces of the Emperor, and what I heard 
lon^ ago about Her Majesty's opinion of him renders it not 
unlikely. 

Saptsnibar 23i. — All the little I hear tends to confirm the 
notion that there is an antagonism growing up between 
French and English policy, and that France and Russia are 
becoming more and more intimate every day. The points 
of the Treaty on which there are still some differences, and 
on which we appear to be making a great fuss, the French 
seem to care very little about, perhaps being rather disposed 
to side with Russia. These differences are very inconsiderable 
in themselves, but if they lead to coolness and estrangement 
between us and the French, and to an alliance between 
France and Russia, they may hereafter be very important. 
Nothing can be more perplexed and unintelligible (at least to 
those who are not behind the curtain) than the international 
relations of the G-reat Powers and of their dispositions to- 
ward the smaller ones, and in such a chaos no little tact, 
discretion, and firmness are required to shape our foreign 
policy. 

Septeynler 25fh. — The void which the march of events 
fails to fill up cannot be better occupied than by the follow- 



1856.] M. GUIZOT ON DEMOCRACY IN ENGLAND. 333 

inor extract from Guizot's notice on Sir Robert Peel in the 
'" Eevue des Denx-Mondes " (1856). He is speaking of de- 
mocracy in England : " M. de Talleyrand disait dans la 
Chambre des Pairs, il y a quelqu'uu qni a plus d'esprit que 
Napoleon on que Voltaire, c'est tout le monde. On peut 
dire aujourd'hui meme a propos de I'Angleterre il y a quel- 
qu'uu qui a pins de pouvoir que la couronne, plus de pouvoir 
que I'aristocratie, c'est tout le monde, et tout le monde c'est 
la democratic. Oii commence-t-elle ? 011 finitelle ? a quels 
signes visibles se distingue-t-elle des autres elements de la 
societe ? Personne ne pourrait le dire, mais pen importe : 
pour etre difficile a detinir, le fait n'en est ni moins certain, 
ni moins puissant, les elements les plus divers entrent dans 
la composition de la democratic moderne, des classes riches 
et des classes pauvres, des classes savantes et des classes 
ignorantes, des maitres et des onvriers, des conservateurs et 
des novateurs, des amis du pouvoir et des entliousiastes de 
liberte, bien des aristocrates memes, detaches de leur origine 
par leurs mceurs, par leur aversion des g<3nes et des devoirs 
que I'aristocratie impose. Et la position de la democratic 
anglaise n'est pas moins changee que sa composition ; elle 
ne se borne pas comme jadis a defendre an besoin ses liber- 
tes, elle regarde les affaires publiques comme les siennes, 
surveille assidument ceux qui les fonti, et si elle ne gouverne 
pas I'etat, elle domine le gouvernement." All this seems 
to me perfectly true, and the best definition of the English 
democracy, its nature, and its position that could possibly 
be given, and that the nature of things admits of. Guizot 
evidently saw clearly a truth which might be elaborated into 
a very interesting essay, and which has often suggested it- 
self to me, namely, that without any violence or ostensible 
disturbances or any change in external forms, this country 
has undergone as great a revolution as France itself, or any 
of the continental nations which have been torn to pieces by 
civil discords and contests. If we compare the condition 
of England at any two not very distant periods, and the 
manner in which power and influence have been distributed 
at one and at the other, this will be very apparent, and 
nobody can doubt that this process is still going on. We 
are, as Guizot says, "dans une epoque de transition . . . 
sous I'empire des principes et des sentiments encore confus, 
perplexes et obscurs. mais essentiellement deraocratiques, 
qui fermentent en Europe depuis qumze siecles et y rem- 



324 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

portent de nos jours des victoires dont persoone ne saurait 
dire encore quel sera le vrai et dernier resultat." 

October del. — There appears to be a general feeling of 
uneasiness, almost of alarm, as if something was impending 
to disturb the peace of the world and intei'rupt the prosperity 
of nations, though nobody can very well tell what it is they 
dread. The apprehension is vague, but it is general. The 
only political question of any consequence in which we are 
concerned is that of Naples, and some fancy that the Eussian. 
manifesto prognosticates a renewal of the contest with that 
Empire. I have no such idea, but I am quite unable to com- 
prehend what it is the different Powers are about ; there is a 
general impression, probably not unfounded, that France 
and Russia are meditating a close alliance, and if this be the 
truth, it is not likely that Eussia should have put forth a 
State paper offensive to France. It is by no means impossible 
that Gortschakoff may have ascertained that the declara- 
tion of his Emperors opinion would not be distasteful to 
the Emperor Napoleon, who probably does not enter con 
amore into this contest with Naples and merely does it to 
please us.^ 

When Baudin took leave of him at Paris the other day 
on his going to Eussia, he said to him, "Is it your Majesty's 
wish that I should cultivate the most friendly relations with 
the English iVIinisters at Moscow and St. Petersburg ?" to 
which the Emperor replied " Certainly," and '' L'Angleterre 
avant tout." In this there can be little doubt of his personal 
sincerity, but probably his personal disposition and the policy 
of his Government and the sentiments of the French people 
do not altogether coincide, and this places him in a some- 
what false position, and will most likely lead to apparent 
vacillation and inconsistency in his conduct. 

Madame de Lieven writes to me that the Neapolitan 
Minister at Paris affirms that his King will not give way at 
the dictation of the allied Powers. We do not, however, as 
yet know what it is that is required of him. If it be true 

1 [The BribislL and French Governments had on more than one occasion re- 
monstrfited with the King- of Naples on the cruel and arbitrary policy of his Gov- 
ernment, which led eventually to his own destruction ; but the I^ing received 
these remonstrances very ill, and on October 28 the differences between these 
Courts had become so serious that the British and French Ministers were with- 
drawn from Naples, and a naval squadron appeared off the dry. The Eussian 
Government at this time issued a circular despatch complainin^r of these pro- 
ceedings of tlie Western Powers, and denying their right to interfere for the 
purpose of extorting concessions from the King of Naples to his own subjects.] 



1856.] THE QUARREL WITH NAPLES. 325 

that he should govern his people more mildly and liberally, 
nothing can be more vague, and our greatest difficulties 
would begin when we had extorted from him promises and 
engagements to act according to our notions of justice and 
humanity. He Avould be more than mortal if he was disposed 
honestly to act up to engagements and promises extorted 
from him by fear, and it would be impossible for us to super- 
intend and secure their due performance without taking 
upon ourselves virtually the government of his kingdom and 
superseding the King's authority. We never should get 
France to concur in this, and on the whole it appears more 
probable that differences will arise in the course of this joint 
action between us and France than that we should succeed 
in ameliorating the condition of Naples. I fear that tiie rage 
for interfering in the internal affairs of other countries will 
never be extinguished here. I see in the papers to-day an 
address to Clarendon from the Protestant Society, request- 
ing he will interpose with the Spanish Government in favor 
of some Spanish subject who has got into trouble in conse- 
quence of having turned Protestant, and being engaged in 
diffusing the Scriptures, and trying to convert others to 
Protestantism, which is an offence against the laws of Spain. 
October 1th. — I have seen Clarendon and asked him about 
the affair of Naples. He was not very communicative, and I 
suspect he is not very easy about the course we are pursuing 
and the part he has to play. He first said that it was impos- 
sible for us to tolerate the conduct of the King to us, and 
the impertinence of his note. I asked what it was he said : 
Clarendon replied it amounted to this, "Mind your own 
business." Then he alluded to the atrocities of the Govern- 
ment, which ought not to be endured ; that no man was safe 
for a minute, or could tell when he went to bed at night 
that he might not be arrested in the morning, all which 
was done by the King's personal orders ; that there was con- 
tinual danger of an outbreak or insurrection, particularly 
of a Muratist revolution. I told him my opinion of the 
very questionable policy of interference, either as a matter 
of right or of expediency, and nothing could be more lame 
than the case he made out. He said the shi])s were not to 
act any hostile part, or to coerce the King, which makes the 
case worse in my opinion. It is doing neither one thing nor 
the other, violating a sound principle, and incurring great 
future risks without any present object, or effecting any 



326 KEIGN OF QUEEN YICTOEIA. [Chap. XII. 

good, or benefiting the people in whom we take an interest. 
He says the Emperor Xapoleon has a great horror of a Murat- 
ist movement, the Prince ]\Jnrat, his cousin, being a most 
worthless blackguard ; but his son, who married Berthier's 
granddaughter and. heiress, is a young man full of merit of 
every sort. 

London, October lOtJi. — I met Clarendon again at the 
Travellers', and had. some conversation with him, but was in- 
terrupted by Azegiio, or I might probably have learned more 
about the present state of afEairs. He told me that we had 
been squabbling with the French Government, and that the 
persevering attempts of Russia to disturb the harmony be- 
tween us and them had. not been unsuccessful. ]^rothing in 
the way of cajolery had been omitted at Moscow to captivate 
the French, while on one occasion the Emperor had been so 
uncivil that Granville felt himself obliged to go to Gortscha- 
koff and make a formal complaint, which was met by all 
sorts of assurances and protestations in order to mollify him, 
and after this everything went on smoothly. It is a curious 
state of things, for as far as I can make it out, the policy of 
the French Government appears to be to become intimate 
with Russia and to be cool with us ; but all the time the 
Emperor (who is the Government) shrinks from anything 
like a breach with England, and clings to the intimacy estab- 
lished between the two Courts, and has a profound respect 
for the Queen and value for her good opinion. 1 asked him 
how he reconciled the offensive Circular of Gortschakoff with 
the anxiety of Russia to please France, when he said that he 
had no doubt they had told the French that it was aimed 
exclusively at us, and had come to an understanding with 
Morny about it, so that France Avas not to take offence at it. 
We are now, he said, on the best terms with Austria, and 
Austria on the worst with Russia. Russia knows thcit the 
article of the treaty compelling her to surrender a part of 
Bessarabia was the work of Austria, and this was an injury 
and an insult (for she had never before disgorged territory) 
which she never would forgive. The Russian Circular would 
have the effect of complicating the Neapolitan question, as it 
made the King more resolved not to yield to the demands of 
the two Powers. He told me that Palmerston had resolved 
to take up in earnest the question of Law Reform next year, 
and that he (Clarendon) had strongly urged him to do so as 
the best way of procuring both strength and credit for his 



1856.] THE BOLGRAD QUESTION. 327 

Government ; that Palmerston had readily come into it, and 
was resolved to carry out those measures which have so long 
been under discussion, and wnich for various reasons have 
hitherto failed of their accomplishment. 

November 10th. — I went to The Grove on Saturday and 
had a good deal of comfortable talk with Clarendon about 
foreign affairs, especially the Bolgrad question and Naples. 
He described the former very clearly, and satisfied me that 
we are entirely in the right. It was settled, he said, at Paris 
mainly between him and Orloff. He drew the line on the 
map as the boundary had been agreed upon, and as he was 
doing so, Orloff said, "I wish you would draw it a little 
more to the south ; it will make no sort of difference to you, 
and by this means it includes within our line a strip of ter- 
ritory which the Emperor wishes to retain because it forms 
a part of a military colony which he is anxious to keep in- 
tact ; " and Clarendon agreed to draw the line accordingly 
and to accomplish the Emperor's wishes. They have since 
attempted to quibble about another Bolgrad which was not 
even marked at all on their map, and it turns out that the 
story of the military colony was a mere pretence, as they 
have themselves given that up without making any difficulty. 
The state of the case and the difference which has since 
arisen with Russia and with France is this : the Emperor 
Napoleon, who is very indolent and abhors the trouble of 
examining details, and consequently remains often ignorant 
of what it behoves him to know, suffered himself to be bam- 
boozled by Brunnow and misled by Walewski into giving his 
assent to the Russian interpretation of the boundary line, 
and to giving a promise of his support in the controversy. 
Recently at Compiegne Cowley, in a long audience, went 
thiough the Avhole question with him and minutely explained 
the case against Russia. The Emperor said he had never 
really understood it before, acknowJedged that our case was 
good, regretted that he had committed himself, but said that 
having pledged his word he did not know how to break that 
pledge and to withdraw the support he had promised to give 
to Russia in the dispute, and this is the fix in which the 
question now is. While the foolish and ignorant newspapers 
here (except the "Times") are endeavoring to separate the 
Emperor from his ministers, and to make out that he is one 
with our Government, and that the difficulties and obstruc- 
tions proceed from other parties, the truth is that they now 



328 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

proceed entirely from himself, worked upon and deceived 
certainly by Eussian agents and pro-Russian ministers ; but 
if he really was in the disposition which our press attributes 
to him, he might break through such obligations as he suf- 
fered himself to be entangled in and settle the question at 
once ; nor is it very easy to see why he does not, for there is 
good reason to believe he is sincerely desirous of remaining 
on good terms with us. I asked Clarendon why the question 
could not be again referred to a Conference of the Powers 
parties to the Treaty, and he said we could not consent to 
this, because we should be in a minority, for Sardinia, partly 
cajoled by Eussia and partly from antipathy to Austria, 
would go against us. 

I asked him about Naples, of which affair he could give 
but a very unsatisfactory account and a lame story. He said 
France had acted with us very steadily, but that it was she 
who had started this hare, and he had engaged in it in the 
belief that the Emperor would never have mooted the ques- 
tion unless he had been assured that the King of Naples 
would yield to the remonstrances of the two Courts, and but 
for that conviction he would never have meddled in it, which 
he now very much regretted. He had given Carini notice to 
quit, and afc their parting interview he had entreated him to 
persuade the King if possible to change his system, and, 
now that he was relieved from all interference, menace, or 
coercion, and his dignity could not suffer, to give satisfac-' 
tion to all Europe by putting an end to the inhuman and 
impolitic system, which had occasioned our interference 
and had drawn upon him remonstrances and advice from 
every Sovereign in Europe. Very good advice, and I hope 
it may be followed, but it is a lame and impotent conclusion 
to the menacing demonstrations with which we began to 
quarrel. Clarendon talked of the various atrocities of the 
King of Naples, but with an evident consciousness that the 
fact, even if it be true, and not, as is probable, exaggerated, 
affords no excuse for our policy in the matter. As the sub- 
ject could not be agreeable I did not press it, and abstained 
from telling him how general the opinion is that he has com- 
mitted a great blunder. He will probably hear enough of 
it before the chapter is closed ; even Granville, who never 
says much, said to me yesterday that " it was a very foolish 
affair." 

Clarendon talked to me of Palmerston, and told me (what 



1856.] LORD PALMERSTON'S GOVERNMENT. 329 

I think I had heard, and have very likely noted before) 
that on Aberdeen's fall Palmerston was quite ready to join 
Derby when Derby tried to form a Government, and that 
it was Clarendon's refusal which frustrated that attemjjt. 
Palmerston endeavored to persuade Clarendon to join, but 
"when Clarendon put to him all the reasons why they had 
both of them better refuse, Palmerston saw them all very 
clearly, and rather imprudently said on leaving him, " We 
are both agreed that it will not do to have anything to do 
with Derby and his Government." When Clarendon went 
to the Queen and explained his own conduct to her, and she 
expressed to him the embarrassment which she felt, and 
asked him what she could do, he at once said, *' Send for 
Lord Palmerston, who is the only man, in the present tem- 
per of the people and state of affairs, who can form a Gov- 
ernment that has a chance of standing. Send for him at 
once, place yourself entirely in his hands, give him your en- 
tire confidence, and I will answer for his conduct being all 
that you can desire." The Queen took the advice, and has 
had no reason to repent of it, and Clarendon told me he had 
done everything in his power, and seized every available op- 
portunity to reconcile them to each other, to promote a good 
feeling and understanding, and to soften any little asperities 
which might have made their intercourse less smooth, and 
the consequence is that Palmerston gets on with her very 
well, and liis good sense as well as Clarendon's exhortations 
make him see of what importance it is to him for the easy 
working of his Government and his own ease to be on good 
and cordial terms with the Queen. It is therefore really to 
Clarendon that Palmerston is indebted in great measure, if 
not entirely, for being in his present position, but Clarendon 
has too much tact ever to remind him of it, or of what he 
was himself inclined to do in 1855. 

November Idfh. — The death of Jervis made the office of 
Chief Justice of Common Pleas vacant.^ According to es- 
tablished (but as I think bad) usage, the Attorney-General, 
Cockburn, had a right to take the place, and for the last fort- 
night nothing occupied public attention more than the ques- 
tion whether he would take it or not. He was much averse 
to take it, but everybody pressed him to accept it, and after 
much hesitation and consultation he agreed to be Chief 

1 [Rijjht Hon. Sir John Jervis, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, died on 
November 1, 1856, at the age of fifty-four. ] 



330 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

Justice, and no-w it is said he regrets his determination and 
thinks he has made a mistake. He gives up Parliament, for 
which he is well adapted, where he acts a conspicuous part, 
being a capital speaker, and which he likes, and feels that it 
is his element. He gives up the highest place at the bar, 
where he is a successful advocate, and makes 15,000Z. or 
16,000Z. a year, and he sees that he shall be obliged to give 
up in great measure his loose habits and assume more 
decorous behavior, which will be a great sacrifice to him, 
and he becomes a judge with 6,000/. a year for life, not being 
a good lawyer, and conscious that he will be inferior to his 
colleagues and to the Puisne Judge in his own court. As 
soon as he had consented to the promotion a fresh difficulty 
presented itself as to the office of Solicitor-General, for such 
is the penury of legal ability at this time that Westminster 
Hall cannot furnish any men of unquestionable fitness for 
the office, and the difficulty is increased by the choice being 
necessarily restricted to men holding the opinions of the 
present Government, and being able to command a seat in 
Parliament. They have offered the place to the Eecorder, 
James Wortley, but u]3 to this moment I know not if it has 
been accepted.^ 

Novsmhe}' 2dd. — After long delay and apparently much 
hesitation James Wortley has accepted the Solicitor-Geijeral- 
ship. He consulted Gladstone and Sidney Herbert, neither 
of them very eligible advisers on such a question. Gladstone 
is said to have replied that he would run a great risk as_ to 
his pecuniary interests, but if he could support the foreign 
policy of the Government, there was no reason why he 
should not accept. He retains his rank of Privy Councillor, 
of which I doubt the fitness, as it places him at all events in 
a very anomalous position, for the law officers are the official 
advisers of the Privy Council and are often called upon to 
sit there as assessors. However, the Judges are said to have 
pronounced an opinion that there is no reason why he should 
not plead in any of the courts. It is said, and I believe 
truly, that now Cockburn has taken the irretrievable step 
he is very sorry for it, and is more struck by the necessary 
consequences of his promotion than he was at first. He has 
all his life been a very debauched fellow, but he is clever, 

1 [Eight Hon. James Stuart "Wortley, a Toimsrer son of Lord Wharncliffe, 
who then filled the office of Eecorder of London, which he surrendered for that 
of Solicitor-General.] 



185G.] A DIPLOMATIC IMBROGLIO. 331 

^ood-natnred, and of a liberal disposition and much liked by 
his friends. A story is told of him that lie was in the habit 
of going down on Sundays to Richmond or elsewhere with a 
woman, and generally with a diti'erent one, and the landlady 
of the inn he went to remembered that Sir A. Cockburn al- 
ways brought Lady Cockburn with him, but that she never 
saw any woman who looked so different on different days, 
and this gave rise to another story. When Lord Campbell 
went to some such place Avith Lady Stratheden (who had 
been raised to the peerage before her husband), the mistress 
of the house said that Sir A. Cockburn always brought Lady 
Cockburn with him, but that the Chief Justice brought 
another lady and not Lady Campbell. 

While we have meetings perpetually held and innumer- 
able writings put forth to promote education and raise the 
moral standard of the people, we are horrified and alarmed 
day after day by accounts of the most frightful murders, 
colossal frauds, and crimes of every description. War has 
ceased, though the Temple of Janus seems only to be ajar; 
but the world is still in commotion, in alarm, and visited by 
every sort of calamity, moral and material, in the midst of 
which it is difficult to discover any signs of the improvement 
of the human race, even of those portions of it which are 
supposed to be the most civilised and the most progressive. 

December 7ih. — At Wrotham and at Ossington last week. 
The news of the day is that we are to have another "Con- 
ference "' at Paris, to settle the Bolgrad affair, our Govern- 
ment having given way to what Clarendon told me he cer- 
tainly would not consent ; but we had managed to get mat- 
ters into such a fix, and it was so necessary to extricate all 
the several parties fi'om the embarrassed positions in which 
they were placed by their own or by each other's faults, that 
no alternative remained. This arrangement, which is not 
very consistent with Palmerston's recent declarations at Man- 
chester and in London, is proclaimed by the Government 
papers, and generally understood to be a means of enabling 
Eussia to concede our demands with as little loss of dignity 
and credit as possible, and to terminate the difference be- 
tween us and France by our making an apparent concession to 
France, while she makes a real one to us. Everything has 
evidently been carefully arranged for the jilaying out of this 
diplomatic farce, and Cowley, who is to be our sole repre- 
sentative, is to be accommodating and not quarrelsome ; but 



332 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap, XH. 

reste b, savoir whetlier the manoBuvres of some of the others 
may not provoke his temper and bring about angry collisions. 
Between this matter and the bevue we have made of our Nea- 
politan interference, never was there such a deplorable exhi- 
bition as our foreign policy displays ; but nobody seems to 
care much about it, and though there will in all probability 
be a good deal of sparring, and taunts and sneers in Parlia- 
ment, Palmerston's Grovernment will incur no danger of any 
adverse vote, for everybody is conscious that in the actual 
state of parties and the dearth of parliamentary leaders, every 
man of sufficient ability being disqualified for one reason or 
another, no man but Palmerston can conduct a Government 
or command a majority in Parliament ; nor does there appear 
in the distance any man likely to be able to fill his place in 
the event of his death or his breaking down, events which 
must be contemplated as not very remote when he is seventy- 
three years old, although his wonderful constitution and 
superhuman vigor of mind and body make everybody forget 
his age and regard the possibihty of his demise with the sort 
of incredulity which made the courtier of Louis XIV. ex- 
claim on the death of that monarch, " Apres la mort du Eoi 
on pent tout croire." 

Great astonishment has been excited by the appointment 
of a Mr. Bickersteth as Bishop of Ripon, against whom noth- 
ing can be said, nor anything for him, except that he is a 
very Low Churchman. All the vacant sees have now been 
filled with clergymen of this color, which is not very fair or 
prudent, as it will exasperate the moderate High Churchmen 
and set them strongly against a Government which appears 
determined to shut the door of ecclesiastical preferment 
against all but the Lowest Churchmen, and such a policy 
will most likely have the effect of encouraging the advocates 
of those extreme measures of an anti-Catholic or a j)uritani- 
cal character which always give so much trouble and embar- 
rassment when they are brought forward in Parliament. 

December V2th. — The Conference to which Clarendon 
told me he would not agree is going to take place after all, 
but everybody is ridiculing what is notoriously a got-up com- 
edy with a foregone conclusion, devised to solve the difficulty 
into which all the great actors had got themselves, but it is 
not yet quite clear what the modus operandi is to be. From 
what I have picked up here and there I gather that Sardinia 
is to be induced to give a casting vote against Russia, leaving 



1856.] LEADERSHIP OF THE OPPOSITION. 333 

France still at liberty to fulfil her original engagement and 
vote with her, while we obtain the object for wli'ich we have 
stood out, and by such a dodge to bring the dispute to an 
end. When Parliament meets there will be plenty to be 
said about this affair and about Naples, and no doubt the 
Opposition or the malcontents will be able to bombard the 
Government and vent their spleen, but that will be all, for 
Palmerston is perfectly invulnerable and may commit any 
blunders with impunity. 

A report has been lately current that Gladstone will be- 
come the leader of the Opposition vice Disraeli, a report I 
thought quite wild and improbable, but I heard the other 
da/ something which looks as if it was not so much out of 
the question as I had imagined. George Byng told me he 
had met Sir William Jollitfe, who is the Derbyite whipper- 
in, at Wrotham, and having asked him whether there was 
any foundation for the above report, he replied that it cer- 
tainly was not true at present, that he could not say what 
might or what might not happen hereafter, but that he 
could not at onc3 be accepted as leader, and must in any 
case first serve in the ranks. I do not know what may be 
the value of Jolliffe's opinions, or Avhat he knows of the in- 
tentions of his chief, but he may probably be more or less 
acquainted with the sentiments of his party, and may be 
aware that their necessities have modified their extreme re- 
pugnance to Gladstone, and that they may now be willing to 
accept him as leader (eventually), though two years ago they 
so peremptorily insisted on his entire exclusion from their 
political society. Meanwhile there is no combination among 
them. Derby is at Knowsley amusing himself, and Disraeli 
at Paris, doing nobody knows what. 

There is talk of Lord Granville resigning the lead and 
his office and going to Ireland instead of Carlisle, or to Paris 
instead of Cowley, but he has never intimated the least 
intention of doing either. Ireland he certainly will not go 
to ; Paris is not so impossible. There seems some doubt 
whether his health will admit of his going on in the House 
of Lords, and if they knew how to get Cowley away from 
Paris without doing him an injustice or an unkindness, I 
think they would not be sorry, for his position there is un- 
satisfactory. It is a serious inconvenience to be on such 
terms with Walewski that they never converse at all except 
when business obliges them to meet, and the consequence 



334 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. 

of their relations is that all affairs between the two countries 
are carried on between Clarendon and Persigny in London, 
and as little as possible at Paris, because the Emperor now 
fights rather shy of Cowley, and is by no means on the same 
terms with him as heretofore, though always very civil and 
cordial enough when they meet ; and His Majesty will not 
part with Walewski, who, although of a moderate capacity, 
is clever enough to know how to deal with his master, and 
make himself agreeable to him, and the Emperor knows 
that if he were to change his Minister for Foreign Affairs, it 
would be attributed to the influence of England and be 
on that account unpopular. The English press has ren- 
dered AValewski the incalculable service of making him 
popular in France, and rendering it impossible for the Em- 
peror to dismiss him, even if he had a mind to do so, which 
he has not. " 

December 11th. — There was an article in the "Times" 
the day before yesterday commenting in severe terms upon a 
transaction of our Foreign Office, as set forth in a Blue 
Book, in relation to Brazil. It was the old subject of the 
slave trade, and the old method of arrogant overbearing 
meddling and dictation, a case as odious and unjust as any 
one of those by which JPalmerston's foreign administration 
has ever been disgraced. I really no longer recognize my 
old friend Clarendon, in whose good sense and moderation 
I used to place implicit confidence, and believed that he 
would inaugurate a system at the Foreign Office very differ- 
ent from that of Palmerston, and which would tend to re- 
lieve us from the excessive odium and universal unpopularity 
which Palmerston had drawn upon us. It appears that I 
was mistaken. I told G-ranville yesterday morning what I 
thought of this case, and asked him if it was correctly 
stated. He said he regarded it just as I did, and that it was 
quite true, every word of it. I then expressed my astonish- 
ment that Clarendon should have acted in this way, and he 
replied. "The fault of Clarendon is that he is always think- 
ing of the effect to be produced by Blue Books, and he looks 
after popularity, and is influenced by those he acts with. 
Under Aberdeen he was very moderate, but he saw that the 
moderation of Aberdeen made him unpopular, while Palmer- 
ston's popularity in great measure arose from his very differ- 
ent manner toward other Powers, so when Palmerston be- 
came Prime Minister instead of Aberdeen, he fell readily 



1857.] STATE OF ENGLAND AFTER THE WAR. 335 

into tliG Pfilmerstonian method." I dare say this is the 
truth, and bosideo the contagion of Pahiierston himself, he 
is surrounded by men at the Foreign Office who are pro- 
digious admirers of Palmerston and of his dashing ways, and 
wiio no doubt constantly urge Clarendon to ad.opt a similar 
style. All this is to me matter of great regret personally, 
and it is revolting as to good taste, and, as I believe, to our 
national interests. It is, however, a consolation to see that 
the most powerful and influential of our journals has the 
courage, independence, and good sense to protest publicly 
against such violent and unjustifiable proceedings. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

state of Eng:land after the War — Prussli and Neufchatel— Sir Robert Peel's Account of 
the Eussiau CowDation — An Historical Puzzle — 1 he Death of Princess Lieven — Ar. 
Spurgeon's Preaching — Mr. Glad -tone in Opposition— 'I it for Tat — Difficult Kelati.iiis 
^\i^h Irance— Lord John in Opposiiion— riia Liddell i\ Westerton i ase— Death of 
Lord Ellesmere -\ iolent Oppusiiion to the Gnvemiiient on the Chi.ia Ques loii — 
Languid Defence of the Goverume-jt— lin ending Dissolution— .opularity ..f Lord 
Palmerston — Despotisju of Ministers Parliament dissolve I — luilgmentou Lid led tf. 
V\ esterton— Lord Palmerston s Ad(lrc>s— l he Elections — Defeat of the Manchester 
Leaders — Fear of Kadi^ai rendencies — The Country approves the Chinese Poucy — 
Death of Lady Keith. 

January 9th, 1857. — The old year ended and the new 
year began strangely. After three years of expensive war 
the balance-sheet exhibited such a state of wealth and pros- 
perity as may well make us "the envy of surrounding na- 
tions;" but while we have recovered the great blessing of 
peace, we have to look back upon a year stained beyond all 
precedent with frightful crimes of every sort and kind : 
horrible murders, enormous frauds, and scandalous robberies 
and defalcations. The whole attention of the country is 
now drawn to the social questions which press upon us with 
appalling urgency, and the next session of Parliament, which 
is rapidly advancing, must be principally engaged in the en- 
deavor to find remedies for the evils and dangers incident to 
our corrupted population, and our erroneous and inadequate 
penal system, the evils and dangers of which threaten to be- 
come greater and more difficult to remedy every day. From 
this question it is impossible to dissever that of education, 
for at least we ought to make the experiment whether the 



336 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

diffusion of education will or will not be conducive to the 
diminution of crime, and we shall see whether the sectarian 
prejudices, the strength and obstinacy of which have hitherto 
erected impassable barriers to the progress of educating the 
people, will retain all their obstinacy in the face of the exist- 
ing evil, or whether the bodily fear and the universal per- 
suasion of the magnitude and imminence of the danger will 
not operate upon bigotry itself and render the masses more 
reasonable. Besides these important questions the new year 
opens with a most unpleasant prospect abroad, where every- 
thing seems to go wrong and our foreign relations, be the 
cause what, or the fault whose it may, to be in a very un- 
happy state. 

The quarrel between Prussia and Switzerland ^ is one in 
which we appear to have no immediate interest, except that 
it is always our interest to prevent any infraction of the gen- 
eral peace, but of course we could not think of not interfer- 
ing in some way or other in the matter. The King of Prussia 
has behaved as ill and as foolishly as possible, and our Gov- 
ernment entirely disapprove of his conduct and have given 
the Swiss to understand that all our sympathies are with 
them, and that we think they have right on their side. If 
France and England were now on really good terms, and 
would act together with cordiality and authority, nothing 
would be so easy as to j)iit a prompt extinguisher on the 
Swiss affair ; but as we cannot agree upon a common course 
of action, there is danger of the dispute drifting into a war, 
though it is evidently so much the interest and the desire of 
the Emperor Napoleon to allow no shots to be fired, that I 
still expect, even at this almost the eleventh hour, to be in a 
complete fix. The Swiss will not release the prisoners unless 
the King will at the same time abandon his claims on Neuf- 
chatel, or unless England and France will guarantee that he 
will do so. The King will do nothing and agree to nothing 
unless the Swiss will previously and unconditionally release 
the prisoners, and moreover he repudiates our intervention, 
as he thinks us unfairly disposed to himself. The simplest 

1 [The Prussian Crown retained, by the Treaty of Vienna, rights of sover- 
eiornty over the Swiss Canton of Neufehatel, and appointed a Govei'nor there. 
In other respects the Neufchatelese enjoyed all the rights and hberties of Swiss 
citizens. This anomalous state of things naturally gave rise to friction. The 
King of Prussia derived no sort of advantage from his nominal sovereignty ; 
but as a matter of dignity he declined to renounce it, and even threatened a 
military occupation of the' Canton, which the Swiss Confederation would have 
resisted.] 



1857.] THE SWISS QUESTION. 337 

course would be for England and France to declare that a 
Prussian invasion of Switzerland should be a casus belli, and 
I think we should have no objection to this, but France 
won't go along with us. Then if the Swiss should deliver 
over the prisoners to France, and she would accept the depot, 
all might be settled. As it is, we have backed up Switzer- 
land to resist, and if war ensues we shall leave her to her fate 
— a very inglorious course to pursue ; and although I have a 
horror of war, and am alive to the policy of keeping well 
with France, I am inclined to think that having encouraged 
the Swiss to a certain point it would better become us to take 
our own independent line and to threaten Prussia with war 
if she does not leave Switzerland alone, than to sit tamely by 
and see her, unimpeded, execute her threats. The Govern- 
ment are evidently much embarrassed by this question, which 
is still further complicated by the matrimonial engagement 
between the two Royal families. 

January ISth. — The Swiss affair seems settled, so far at 
least that there will be no war. The prisoners will be re- 
leased, but I dare say the King of Prussia will chicaner about 
the abdication of his rights over Neufchatel. All the world 
is occupied with Sir Robert Peel's speech, or lecture as he 
terms it, at Birmingham, where he gave an account, meant 
to be witty, of his sejour in Russia and its incidents. It was 
received with shouts of applause by a congenial Brummagem 
audience, and by deep disapprobation in every decent society 
and by all reasonable people. 

January lUh. — I met Clarendon last night, who told me 
the Swiss question was still in doubt, for the King was 
shuffling and would probably play them a trick, and though 
he knew the prisoners were going to be liberated, he would 
not engage positively to give up his claim. The Emperor 
Napoleon has behaved very ill and ungratefully to the Swiss, 
who in consequence were more irritated against him than 
against the King of Prussia himself. Nothing could equal 
the fawning flattery and servility of the King to the Em- 
peror, who was at the same time tickled by it and disgusted. 

January 20fh. — At Woburn for two days. I found the 
Duke entirely occupied with a question (on which he had of 
course a various correspondence), whether when Aberdeen's 
Government was formed, Aberdeen had at the time imparted 
to John Russell his wish and intention to retire as soon as 
possible, so that John might take his place as Premier. To 

15 



338 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

ascertain this fact, he had applied to Lord John and Aber- 
deen, to Lansdowne and to Clarendon, all of whom he in- 
vited to send him their recollections and impressions, which 
they did. The matter now is not of much importance, but 
is worth noticing from the evidence it affords of the diffi- 
culty of arriving at truth, and therefore of the fallibility of 
all history. Though this circumstance is so recent, and at 
the time was so important, not one of the parties, neither 
Lord John nor Aberdeen nor the other two, can recollect what 
did pass, but as they all concur in their impressions that no 
such engagement was given when the Governm'ent was 
formed, it may safely be concluded that this is the truth. I 
know I heard all that passed, and certainly I never heard of 
any such intention, though I did hear some time afterward 
that such had been Aberdeen's expressed wish and Lord 
John's expectation. I read Aberdeen's letters, in which he 
enter'ed into other matters connected with his Government, 
and I must say more creditable, gentlemanlike, and amiable 
letters 1 never read. 

January %Wi. — At Stoke from Saturday to Monday. On 
returning to town, we heard that the Persian war was over, 
Palmerston's usual luck bringing a settlement of the only 
question that could be embarrassing on the eve of the meet- 
ing of Parliament. But the news only comes telegraphically, 
so unless confirmed must be doubtful, and cannot be named 
in the Speech.^ 

Two remarkable deaths have occurred, one of which 
touches me nearly, that of Madame de Lieven ; the other is 
that of the Duke'of Rutland. Madame de Lieven died, after 
a short illness, of a severe attack of bronchitis, the Duke 
having lingered for many months. Very different characters. 
Madame de Lieven came to this country at the end of 1813 or 
beginning of 1813 on the war breaking out between Eussia and 
France. "Pozzo di Borgo had preceded the Lievens to renew 

1 [Differences had arisen in the spring of 1856 between Great Britain and the 
Court of Persia, in consequence of -which the British Minister was withdrawn 
from Teheran. In October, 1856, Herat was attacked and taken by the Persians, 
which led to war. A detachment of British troops under General Outram 
hxnded at Bushire on January 27, 1857, and the Persians were defeated at Koo- 
shab on February 8. Peace was siarned in Paris between Her Majesty and the 
Shah on March 4, tlie Persians engaging to abstain from all interference iu the 
internal affairs of Afghanistan, and "to respect the independence of Herat. If 
tliese dates are correct, as given in Irving's Annals of our Time, the intelligence 
of the peace cannot have reached London so soon as Mr. Greville supposed, and 
rumor anticipated the event.] 



185Y.] DEATH OF PRINCESS LIEVEN. 339 

diplomatic relations and make arrangements with ns. She 
was at that time yo.ung, at least in the prime of life, and 
though without any pretensions to beauty, and indeed with 
some personal defects, she had so fine an air and manner, 
and a countenance so pretty and so full of intelligence, as to 
be on the whole a very striking and attractive person, quite 
enough so to have lovers, several of whom she engaged in 
succession without seriously attaching herself to any. Those 
who were most notoriously her slaves at different times were 
the present Lord Willoughby, the Duke of Sutherland (then 
Lord Gower), the Duke of Cannizzaro (then Count St. 
Antonio), and the Duke of Palmella, who was particularly 
clever and agreeable. Madame de Lieven was a tres gr ancle 
dame, with abilities of a very fine order, great tact and/w^sse, 
and taking a boundless pleasure in the society of the great 
world and in political affairs of every sort. People here were 
not slow to acknowledge her merits and social excellence, 
and she almost immediately took her place in the cream of 
the cream of English society, forming close intimacies with 
the most conspicuous women in it, and assiduously culti- 
vating relations with the most remarkable men of all parties. 
These personal liaisons sometimes led her into political par- 
tisanship not always prudent and rather inconsistent with 
her position, character, and functions here. But I do not 
believe she was ever mixed up in any intrigues, nor even, at a 
later period, that she was justly obnoxious to the charge of 
caballing and mischief-making which has been so lavishly 
cast upon her. She had an insatiable curiosity for political 
information, and a not unnatural desire to make herself 
useful and agreeable to her own Court by imparting to her 
Imperial masters and mistresses all the information she 
acquired and the anecdotes she picked up. Accordingly 
while she was in England, which was from 1812 to 1834, she 
devoted herself to society, not without selection, but without 
exclusion, except that she sought and habitually confined 
herself to the highest and best. ' The Eegent, afterward 
George IV., delighted in her company, and she was a fre- 
quent guest at the Pavilion, and on very intimate terms 
with Lady Conyngham,for although Madame de Lieven was 
not very tolerant of mediocrity, and social and colloquial 
superiority was necessary to her existence, she always made 
great allowances for Eoyalty and those immediately con- 
nected with it. She used to be a great deal at Oatlands, and 



340 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

was one of the few intimate friends of the Duchess of York, 
herself very intelligent, and who therefore had in the eyes of 
Madame de Lieven the double charm of her jiosition and her 
agreeableness. It was her duty as well as her inclination to 
cultivate the members of all the successive Cabinets which 
passed before her, and she became the friend of Lord Cas- 
tlereagh, of Canning, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Grey, 
Lord Palmerston, John Russell, Aberdeen, and many others 
of inferior note, and she was likewise one of the Jiahitues 
of Holland House, which was always more or less neutral 
ground, even when Lord Holland was himself a member 
of the government. "When Talleyrand came over here as 
Ambassador, there was for some time a sort of antagonism 
between the two embassies, and particularly between the 
ladies of each, but Madame de Dino (now Duchesse of Sagan) 
was so clever, and old Talleyrand himself so remarkable and 
so agreeable, that Madame de Lieven was irresistibly drawn 
toward them, and for the last year or two of their being in 
England they became extremely intimate ; but her greatest 
friend in England was Lady Cowper, afterward Lady 
Palmerston, and through her she was also the friend of 
Palmerston, who was also well affected toward Eussia, till 
his jealous and suspicions mind was inflamed by his absurd 
notion of her intention to attack us in India, a crotchet 
which led us into the folly and disaster of the Afghan war. 
In 1834 the Lievens were recalled, and she was established at 
St. Petersburg in high favor about the Empress, but her 
sejoiir there was odious to her, and she was inconsolable at 
leaving England, where after a residence of above twenty 
years she had become rooted in habits and affections, although 
she never really and completely understood the country. 
She remained at St. Petersburg for several months, until 
her two youngest children were taken ill, and died almost at 
the same time. This dreadful blow, and the danger of the 
severe climate to her own health, gave her a valid excuse 
for desiring leave of absence, and she left Eussia never to 
return. She went to Italy, where M. de Lieven died about 
the year 1836 or 1837, after which she established herself 
in Paris, where her salon became the rendezvous of the best 
society, and particularly the neutral ground on which emi- 
nent men and politicians of all colors could meet, and where 
her tact and adroitness made them congregate in a sort of 
social truce. 



1857.] CHARACTER OF PRINCESS LIEVEK 341 

I do not know at what exact period it was that she 
made the acquaintance of M. Guizot, but their intimacy 
no doubt was established after he had begun to phiy a 
great political part, for his literary and philosophical celeb- 
rity would not alone have had much charm for her. 
They were, however, already great friends at the time of 
his embassy to England, and she took that opportunity of 
coming here to pay a visit to her old friends, li^ie fall of 
Thiers' Government and Guizot's becoming Minister for 
Foreign Affairs of course drew Madame de Lieven still more 
closely to him, and during the whole of his administration 
their alliance continued to be of the closest aijd most inti- 
mate character. It was an immense object to her to possess 
the entire confidence of the French Minister for Foreign 
Affairs, who kept her au courant of all that was going on in 
the political world, while it is not surprising that he sliould 
be irresistibly attracted by a woman immensely superior to 
any other of his acquaintance, who was fully able to com- 
prehend and willing to interest herself about all the grand 
and important subjects which he had to handle and manage, 
and who associated herself with a complete sympathy in all 
his political interests. Their liaison, which some people 
consider mysterious, but which I believe to have been en- 
tirely social and political, grew constantly more close, and 
every moment that Guizot could snatch from the Foreign 
Office and the Chamber he devoted to Madame de Lieven. 
He used to go there regularly three times a day on his way 
to and his way from the Chamber, when it was sitting, and 
in the evening ; but while he was by far her first object, she 
cultivated the society of all the most conspicuous and re- 
markable people whom she could collect about her, and she 
was at one time very intimate with Thiers, though his ri- 
valry with Guizot and their intense hatred of each other 
eventually produced a complete estrangement between her 
and Thiers. 

The revolution of 1848 dispersed her friends, broke up 
her salon, and terrified her into making a rather ludicrous, 
but as it turned out wholly unnecessary, escape. She came 
to England, where she remained till affairs appeared to be 
settled in France and all danger of disturbance at an end. 
She then returned to Paris, where she remained, not without 
fear and trembling, during the period of peril and vicissitude 
which at length ended, much to her satisfaction, with the 



342 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIIL 

coup cVetat and the Empire. Guizot had returned to Paris, 
bnt constantly refused to take any part in political affairs, 
either under the Republic or with the new government of 
Louis Napoleon. This, however, did not prevent Madame 
de Lieven (though their friendship continued the same) from 
showing her sympathy and goodwill to the Imperial regime, 
and her salon, which had been decimated by previous events, 
was soon replenished by some of the ministers or adherents 
of the Empire, who, though they did not amalgamate very 
well with her old Mhitues, supplied her with interesting 
information, and subsequently, when the war broke out, 
rendered her very essential service. When the rupture took 
place all the Russian subjects were ordered to quit Paris. 
She was advised by some of her friends to disobey the order, 
for as she was equally precluded from going to England, the 
circumstances in which this order placed her were indescrib- 
ably painful and even dangerous, but she said that however 
great the sacrifice, and though she was entirely independent, 
she was under so many obligations and felt so much attach- 
ment to the Imperial family that, cost her what it might, 
she would obey the order, and accordingly she repaired to 
Brussels, where for a year and a half or two years she took 
up her melancholy and uncomfortable abode. At last this 
banishment from her home and her friends, with all the priva- 
tions it entailed, became insupportable, and she endeavored, 
through the intervention of some of her Imperialist friends, 
to obtain leave of the French Government to return to Paris, 
either with or without (for it is not clear which) the consent 
of her own Court. The Emperor Napoleon seems to have been 
easily moved to compassion, and signified his consent to her 
return. No sooner did this become known to Cowley and 
the English Covernment than they resolved to interpose for 
the purpose of preventing her return to Paris, and Cowley 
went to Walewski and insisted that the Emperor's permis- 
sion should be revoked. The entente cordiale was then in 
full force, nothing could be refused to the English Ambas- 
sador, and Madame de Lieven was informed that she must 
not come back to Paris. She bore this sad disappointment 
with resignation, made no complaints, and resolved to bide 
her time. Some months later she caused a representation 
to be made to the French Government that the state of her 
health made it impossible for her to pass another winter at 
Brussels, and that she was going to Nice, but as it was of 



1857.] • PRINCESS LIEVEN. 343 

vital importance to her to consult lier medical adviser at 
Paris, she craved permission to proceed to Nice vid Paris, 
where she would only stay long enough for that purpose. 
The permission was granted. She wrote me word that she 
was going to Paris to remain there a few days. I replied that 
I was much mistaken in her if once there she ever quitted 
it again. She arrived and was told by her doctor that it 
would be dangerous in her state to continue her journey. 
She never did proceed further, and never did quit Paris 
again. The Government winked at her stay, and never 
molested or interfered with her. She resumed her social 
habits, but with great caution and reserve, and did all she 
could to avoid giving umbrage or exciting suspicion. It was 
a proof of the greatness of her mind, as well as of her j^ru- 
dence and good temper, that she not only testified no resent- 
ment at the conduct of Cowley toward her, but did all she 
could to renew amicable relations with him, and few things 
annoyed her more than his perseverance in keeping aloof from 
her. From the time of her last departure from England up 
to the death of Frederic Lamb (Lord Bcauvale and Mel- 
bourne) she maintained a constant correspondence with him. 
After his death she proposed to me to succeed him as her 
correspondent, and for the last two or three years our ejDis- 
tolary commerce was intimate and unbroken. She knew a 
vast deal of the world and its history during the half century 
she had lived and played a part in it, but she was not a 
woman of much reading, and probably at no time had been 
very highly or extremely educated, but her excessive clever- 
ness and her finesse d^esprit supplied the want of education, 
and there was one book with which her mind was perpetually 
nourished by reading it over and over again. This was the 
''Letters of Madame de Sevigne," and to the constant study 
of those unrivalled letters she was no doubt considerably 
indebted for her own epistolary eminence, and for her ad- 
mirable style of writing, not, however, that her style and 
Madame de Sevigne's were at all alike. She had not (in her 
letters at least) the variety, the abundance, or the abandon 
of the great Frenchwoman, but she was more terse and epi- 
grammatic, and she had the same graphic power and faculty 
of conveying much matter in few words. 

Nothing could exceed the charm of her conversation or 
her grace, ease, and tact in society. She had a nice and 
accurate judgment, and an exquisite taste in the choice of 



344 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIH. 

her associates and friends ; but thoiigli taking an ardent 
pleasure in agreeableness, and ]3eculiarly susceptible of being 
bored, she was not fastidious, full of politeness and good 
breeding, and possessed the faculty of turning every one to 
account, and eliciting something either of entertainment or 
information from the least important of her acquaintance. 
It has been the fashion here, and the habit of the vulgar 
and ignorant ])ress, to stigmatise Madame de Lieven as 
a mischieyous intriguer, who was constantly occupied in 
schemes and designs hostile to the interests of our country. 
I firmly believe such charges to be utterly unfounded. She 
had resided for above twenty years, the happiest of her 
life, in England, and had imbibed a deep attachment to the 
country, where she had formed many more intimacies and 
friendships than she possessed anywhere else, and to the last 
day of her life she continued to cherish the remembrance 
of her past connection, to cultivate the society of English 
people, and to evince without disguise her predilection for 
their country. She had never lived much in Eussia, her 
connection with it had been completely dissolved, and all she 
retained of it was a respectful attachment to the Imperial 
family, together with certain sympathies and feelings of 
loyalty for her native country and her Sovereign which it 
would have been unnatural and discreditable to disavow. 
Her well-known correspondence with the Imperial Court 
was only caused by the natural anxiety of those great 
persons to be kept au courant of social and political affairs 
by such an accomplished correspondent, but I do not believe 
she was ever employed by them in any business or any 
political design ; on the contrary, she was rather distrusted 
and out of favor with them, on account of her being so 
denaturalized and for her ardent affection for England and 
the English. Eussia was the country of her birth, France 
the country of her adopted abode, but England was the 
country of her predilection. With this cosmopolite char- 
acter she dreaded everything which might produce hostile 
collision between any two of these countries. She was 
greatly annoyed when the question of the Spanish marriages 
embittered the relations between France and England, but 
infinitely more so at the Turkish quarrel, and the war which 
it produced. Those who fulminated against her intrigues 
were, as I believe, provoked at the efforts she made, so far 
as she had any power or influence, to bring about the restora- 



1S5V.] A SERMON BY MR. SPURGEON. 345 

tion of i^eace, an unpardonable offence in the eyes of all who 
were bent on the continuation of the war. She lived to see 
peace restored, and closed her eyes almost at the moment 
that the last seal was put to it by the Conference of Paris. 
Her last illness was sadden and short. Her health had 
always been delicate, and she was very nervous about her- 
self; an attack of bronchitis brought on fever, which rapidly 
consumed her strength, and brought her, fully conscious, 
within sight of death ; that consummation, which at a dis- 
tance she had always dreaded, she saw arrive with perfect 
calmness and resignation, and all the virtues and qualities 
for which the smallest credit was given her seem to have 
shone forth with unexpected lustre on her deathbed. Her 
faculties were bright and unclouded to the last, her courage 
and presence of mind were unshaken, she evinced a tender 
consideration for the feelings of those who were lamenting 
around her bed, and she complied with the religious obliga- 
tions prescribed by the Church of which she was a member 
with a devotion the sincerity of which we have no right to 
question. She made her son Paul and Guizot leave her room 
a few hours before she died, that they might be spared the 
agony of witnessing her actual dissolution, and only three 
or four hours before the supreme moment, she mustered 
strength to write a note in pencil to Guizot with these 
words: "Merci pour vingt annees d'amitie et de bohneur. 
Ne m'oublicz pas, adieu, adieu ! " It was given to him after 
her death. 

Fehrtiary Stii. — I am just come from hearing the cele- 
brated Mr. Spurgeon preach in the Music Hall of the Surrey 
Gardens. It was quite full ; he told us from the ])ulpit 
that 9,000 people were present. The service was like the 
Presbyterian : Psalms, prayers, expounding a Psalm, and a 
sermon. He is certainly very remarkable, and undeniably 
a very fine character; not remarkable in person, in face 
rather resembling a smaller Macaulay, a very clear and pow- 
erful voice, which was heard through the whole hall ; a man- 
ner natural, impassioned, and without affectation or extrava- 
gance ; wonderful fluency and command of language, abound- 
ing in illustration, and very often of a very familiar kind, 
but without anything either ridiculous or irreverent. He 
gave me an impression of his earnestness and his sincerity ; 
speaking without book or notes, yet his discourse was evi- 
dently very carefully prepared. The text was " Cleanse me 



346 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

from my secret sins," and he divided it into heads, the 
misery, the folly, the danger (and a fourth which I have for- 
gotten) of secret sins, on all of which he was very eloqvient 
and impressive. He preached for about three-quarters of an 
hour, and to judge of the handkerchiefs and the audible 
sobs, with great effect. 

We have had a week of Parliament, and though nothing 
important has occurred, the discussions do not seem to have 
raised the reputation of the Government or to promise them 
an easy session, though nobody seems to expect that their 
stability is likely to be shaken. Disraeli and Gladstone 
seem verging toward each other in opposition, but there is 
no appearance of a coalition between them ; the only striking 
fact is that the Opposition, of whose disunion we have heard 
so much, and of the internal repulsion supposed to prevail 
among them, seems to be as united as ever it has been, and 
the usual people appeared at Derby's and Disraeli's gather- 
ings. I take it that any appearance of vulnerability of the 
Government silences all manifestations of their mutual an- 
tipathies, and puts them on the qui vive to turn out their 
opponents. 

Gladstone seems bent on leading Sir George Lewis a weary 
life, but Lewis is just the man to encounter and baffle such 
an opponent, for he is cold-blooded as a fish, totally devoid 
of sensibility or nervousness, of an imperturbable temper, 
calm and resolute, laborious and indefatigable, and exceed- 
ingly popular in the House of Commons from his general 
good humor and civility, and the credit given him for honor, 
sincerity, plain dealing, and good intentions. 

February llth. — The Duke of Bedford told me yesterday 
that Clarendon had complained to him bitterly of John Eus- 
sell's speech the first night of the session, of the hostility 
it manifested, and particularly of what he said about Naples. 
On looking at the report of the speech, the Neapolitan part 
was certainly strong, but it was not stronger than was war- 
ranted by the circumstances of the case, and there seems 
no reason why Lord John should abstain from speaking out 
his opinions fairly on any important point of foreign policy. 
His speech, on the whole, was not regarded as hostile or 
acrimonious. Disraeli has got into a scrape by blurting out 
an accusation which he has entirely failed in making good, 
and he has afforded Palmerston an occasion for a triumph 
over him not a little damaging. I am told the effect in the 



1857.] TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND AUSTRIA. 347 

House was very bad for Disraeli. Palmerston is said to be 
beginning to show some symptoms of physical weakness, 
which if it be so, is very serious at the beginning of a long 
and arduous session. He is rising seventy-three, and at 
that age, and loaded with the weight of public affairs, it is 
not wonderful if the beginning of the end should be dis- 
cernible. 

February lUli. — The defeat which Disraeli sustained the 
other night was turned the night before last into something 
like a triumph, and Palmerston found himself in a disagree- 
able position. Disraeli had asserted that a Treaty had been 
concluded between France and Austria for certain ends and 
at a certain time. Palmerston flatly contradicted him, and 
with great insolence of manner, especially insisting that it 
was nothing but a Convention, and that conditional, which 
never had been signed. Two nights after Palmerston came 
down to the House, and in a very jaunty way said he must 
correct his former statement, and inform the House he 
had just discovered that the Convention had been signed. 
Great triumph naturally on the part of Disraeli, who poured 
forth a rather violent invective. Then Palmerston lost his 
temper and retorted that Disraeli was trying to cover an 
ignominious retreat by vaporing. This language, under the 
circumstances of the case, was very imprudent and very im- 
proper, and (unlike what he had ever experienced before) he 
sat down without a single cheer, his own people even not 
venturing to challenge the apjn-obation of the House in a 
matter in which, though Disraeli was not right, Palmerston 
was so clearly wrong. What business had he to make such 
a mistake ? for he ought to have been perfectly and accu- 
rately informed of every detail connected with foreign affairs. 
He certainly is not qualis erat, and I am disposed to believe 
that he is about to begin breaking, and that he Mnll not be 
able to go through a long and arduous session with the same 
vigor and success which he has hitherto manifested. Every 
sign and symptom of weakness and failing strength which 
he may show will raise the hopes and stimulate the exertions 
of the Opposition, and we may expect to see not a coalition, 
but such a concurrence between Gladstone, Disraeli, and 
Lord Stanley as will prevent the possibility of an alternative 
Government. Gladstone and Disraeli are already on friendly 
terms, and Gladstone and Stanley seem to be still more in- 
timate. The present Government only exists by Palmer- 



348 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

ston's personal popularity, and it would not require much to 
pull that down. 

February 11th. — I called on Lyndhurst on Sunday. He 
was in high force, with the Blue Book before him, getting 
up the China case, on which he means to have a day in the 
House of Lords. He told me that Gladstone says the Budget 
is the worst that was ever produced, and he stakes his credit 
on proving that it is full of errors from beginning to end, 
that, instead of a present surplus of nearly a million, there 
is a present deficit of four millions, and that there will be 
one of nine millions in 1860. I don't believe he will make 
his words good. 

I saw Clarendon yesterday morning, and found him low, 
worn, and out of sorts ; said he wished to Heaven he could 
be delivered from office ; everything went wrong, the labor, 
anxiety, and responsibility were overwhelming, and the diffi- 
cult state of our relations with France more than could be 
endured. He could not depend on the French Government, 
and never knew from one day to another what the conse- 
quences of their conduct might be. He believed the Emperor 
sincerely desired to keep well with us, but his Government 
were constantly doing things which rendered our acting to- 
gether and cordially almost impossible ; that his excessive 
levity>and carelessness perpetually made him the dupe of other 
people, and led him into saying things and committing him- 
self, and then he did not know how to get out of the engage- 
ments to which he stood committed. Clarendon added that 
it was impossible such a state of things should not produce 
first coolness and then quarrels, and then God knows what 
consequences, and he was obliged to pick his way through 
the embarrassments that spring up around him with the ut- 
most care and circumspection. Palmerston, who never saw 
difficulties, took it with his usual easy way, and said we were 
not tied to France like Siamese Twins, and why should we 
care so much what she did, and why might she not take her 
way, and we ours ; but Clarendon feels that it is impossible 
for him, on whom the responsibility is more immediately 
thrown, to take a matter fraught with -such consequences in 
so easy a style ; that if any serious dispute arose, France and 
Eussia would probably become allied against us, and that 
America would join them. Russia pays the most unceasing 
and the most abject court to Louis Napoleon, and not with- 
out success. He (Clarendon) said nothing could be worse 



1857.] LORD JOHN IN OPPOSITION. 349 

than the conduct of the French Government about the affair 
of the Principalities, which was of vital importance to Aus- 
tria, who threatened (though slie would not keep her resolu- 
tion) to make it a casus belli if it is insisted on. He said 
Austria had behaved very well about the amnesty in Italy, 
and was going to do the same thing in Hungary. We were 
interrupted as usual in our conversation, and I had not time 
to ask him about many things I wanted to hear of. I told 
him I thought the China case was a very bad one. 

John Russell seems to me to be drifting into hostility to 
the Government more and more. He made a strong, but 
very Just, speech on Naples the first night, which irritated 
Clarendon very much, A few nights ago he said something 
in the House about China, and backed up the Government 
against Roebuck, at which Clarendon expressed great satis- 
faction, and evinced a disposition to seize that pretext to 
put himself on good terms with Lord John, but Lord John 
showed no readiness to meet the overture, and when the 
Duke of Bedford wrote to him what Clarendon had said, he 
replied that Clarendon owed him nothing, for he had said 
what he thought right and not what he thought would be 
agreeable to him, and that it was very probable he should 
say something he would not at all like before long. 

Yesterday morning the Judicial Committee finished the 
case of Liddell and Westerton, after eight days of elaborate 
argument, and a powerful case was made in appeal against 
Lushington's Judgment, which I expect to see reversed, and 
I hope it will, for I detest the proceedings of the people who 
back up Mr. Westerton, who would drag down the Church 
to a puritanical level, and strip it of its splendor. 

February 19th. — Yesterday morning, at half-past twelve 
o'clock, my brother-in-law Lord Ellesmere, expired at Bridge- 
water House, after an illness of three months. He was sur- 
rounded by all his family, and died most peacefully, and 
without any suffering, and in possession of his mental powers 
till within a few hours of his death. Few men have quitted this 
world more beloved, respected, and lamented than this excel- 
lent person. He had Just completed the fifty-seventh year of 
his age, so might naturally have been expected to live many 
years, and till he was taken ill, little more than three months 
ago, he appeared to be in his usual state of health and likely to 
have a long and enjoyable existence before him. It is no ex- 
aggeration to say that he was most estimable in every relation 



350 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

of life, and as sucli lie enjoyed universal respect and regard. 
He never at any time played a conspicuous part in politics, 
for which he had neither ambition nor the necessary qualifi- 
cations, but in such part as he was occasionally called upon 
to take, he acted with propriety and general approbation. 
But he had no taste for the turmoil of political life, and his 
temper was too serene and his love of repose too great to 
allow him to plunge deeply in political warfare. His abili- 
ties were not of a very high order, but he had a good under- 
standing, a cultivated mind, and an inquisitive disposition, 
and, though not profound in any branch of literature or 
science, he loved to wander over the vast fields of knowledge, 
so that he was stored with much superficial information on 
a great variety of subjects. His taste was good both in lit- 
erature and art ; he was an elegant poet, and a fair writer of 
his own tongue ; he was naturally kind-hearted and charita- 
ble, more particularly to meritorious artists who stood in 
need of assistance, by whom his loss will be severely felt. All 
his tastes and pursuits were of the most refined character, 
and he delighted in the society of all who were remarkable 
for ability in any walk of life, and from whom he could de- 
rive information of any description. In political opinions 
he was the very type and model of a Liberal Conservative, 
and the statesman to whom he gave all his allegiance, to- 
gether "with a boundless admiration, was the Duke of Wel- 
lington. But he was always much more of a patriot than a 
political partisan, and he was oftener to be found giving an 
independent support to different Governments than fighting 
in the ranks of Opposition. He will, I have no doubt, be 
regarded as a loss to the country, even a greater loss than if 
he had been more actively and conspicuously engaged in 
politics, for he stood nearly alone in the station he occupied, 
with vast wealth, unblemished character, esteemed by people 
of all parties, without an enemy in the world, and having no 
personal objects to pursue ; and, though never thrusting 
himself forward, alike fitted for either active or contempla- 
tive life, he was at all times ready to exert his best energies 
in the public service or to promote the benefit and happiness 
of his fellow -creatures. He was sincerely religious, without 
intolerance and austerity, or the slightest particle of osten- 
tatious or spiritual pride. It was not, however, in the an- 
nals of political history or in the modest and unambitious 
incidents of his public career that his best panegyric is to be 



ISSY.] CUARACTER OF LORD ELLESMERE. 351 

found, but in the more ])lacici walk of private life, in the 
strict and conscientious discharge of his domestic and social 
duties, which Avas at the same time congenial to his sense 
of moral obligation, and to the benevolent impulses of his 
heart. 

Lord Francis Leveson Gower, upon the death of his 
father, the late Duke of Sutherland, succeeded to the im- 
mense fortune entailed upon him by his great-uncle, the 
Duke of Bridgewater, in the shape of the Bridgewater Canal, 
and found himself the possessor of vast wealth, and sur- 
rounded by a population sunk in ignorance and vice. From 
the tirst moment of his succession he considered himself in 
the light of a trustee for working out the moral and spiritual 
improvement of the people who were in a great measure 
committed to his charge. He. accepted the obligation in a 
spirit of cheerfulness and resolution, and the due discharge 
of it continued to be the principal object of his interest and 
care for the remainder of his life. He employed his wealth 
liberally in promoting the material comfort and raising the 
moral condition of those by whose labor that wealth was 
produced. Churches, schools, and reading-rooms rose around 
Worsley Hall. His benevolent efforts were crowned with 
success, and he reaped his reward in the blessings of the sur- 
rounding multitudes and in the contemplation of their en- 
joyment of all the good which his active bounty had bestowed 
upon them. Such qualities as were here displayed, and a 
life thus devoted to works of duty and beneficence, made 
Lord Ellesmere an object of general veneration ajid attach- 
ment ; but those alone who belonged to his family, or who 
had familiar access to the sanctuary of his domestic life, 
could appreciate fully the excellence and the charm of his 
character, and comprehend the immensity of the loss Avhich 
those who were nearest and dearest to him have sustained by 
his death. He regarded with indifference the ordinary ob- 
jects of worldly ambition ; he lived in and for his family, and 
he was their joy, their delight, and their pride, fulfilling in the 
most exemplary manner all the duties of his station, political, 
social, literary, and artistic ; unsurpassed as a husband, father, 
brother, or friend. He cultivated unremittingly the society of 
the best and wisest of his fellow-creatures, and it may be as tru- 
ly said of him as it was of certain sages of antiquity, that " his 
excellent understanding was adorned by study, . . . and his 
days were spent in the pursuit of truth and the practice of 



352 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

virtue. " The length of these precious days was not permitted 
by the Divine Will to be extended to the ordinary duration 
of human life. In the three last months, while death was 
gradually but surely, and with his full consciousness, ad- 
vancing, his courage was never shaken and the serenity of 
his temper was never disturbed ; he always seemed to have 
more consideration for others than himself ; and he met 
his approaching end with the firmness of a philosopher and 
the resignation of a Christian. To witness such an end free 
from bodily pain, with the mental faculties remaining un- 
clouded till the last, full of peace and charity and love, was 
the best consolation that was possible to the family which 
surrounded his deathbed ; to them he has left a memory 
which will be long reverenced by all who honor virtue and 
patriotism, and which they will cherish with never-ending 
sentiments of duty and affection. He has left them an ex- 
ample how to live and how to die, and the world in which 
he had no enemy will ungrudgingly acknowledge 

That to the realms of bliss was ne'er conveyed 
A purer spirit or more welcome shade. 

February 21th. — The political war is raging furiously, 
and personal animosities are becoming bitterer than ever. 
Confusion, disorder, and doubt rage in Ijoth the great camps. 
Derby made a grand onslaught in the beginnmg of last 
week on the China question, and there was (an unusual 
thing in the Lords) an adjourned debate. Granville was 
very apprekensive of being beaten, but Bessborough, his able 
whipper-in, made such exertions that they ended by getting 
a very good majority. All the speaking was on the side 
of the Opposition, but it is quite curious how afraid people 
are of seriously shaking the Government. The day the de- 
bate in the Lords ended, that in the Commons began on 
the same question, dues Cobden.^ The great event of the 
first night was John Russell's speech and powerful attack 
on the Government. It was one of his very best efforts 
and extremely successful with the House, but it was ex- 
ceedingly bitter and displayed without stint or reason his 

1 [A motion was made by Mr. Cobden condemning the violent measures re- 
sorted to by the British authorities in the Canton river in consequence of the 
seizure of the lorcha " Arrow " by the Chinese when she had hoisted the British 
fla;T. The debate was carried on with great acrimony, and ended by the adoption 
of lilr. Cobden' s motion by 263 to 247, a majority of 16 against the Govern- 
ment.] 



1857.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL VENTS HIS SPLEEN. 353 

hostile animus. It did all the misciiief he wished to do, and 
everybody admits that if a division had then taken i)lace 
Government would have been beaten by a great majority ; but 
they have since adjourned twice, and the debate stands over 
till Monday, and the aspect of affairs appears to be very 
much altered. Whether it be that the effect of Lord John's 
speech has evaporated, that a rally has taken place among 
the Liberals, or that the aversion of the stiff Tories to the 
union between Gladstone and their leaders, the approaching 
consummation of which seems not to be denied, the general 
opinion has veered round, and now it is expected that Govern- 
ment will have a majority. Here again, as in the Lords, 
the speaking was all with the Opposition. Palmerston's 
speech is looked for with interest and curiosity. The re- 
markable incidents connected with these transactions have 
been the Parliamentary conduct of Gladstone and John 
Eussell and their respective positions. Gladstone seems to 
have been so inflamed by spite and ill-humor that all pru- 
dence and discretion forsook him ; he appears ready to say 
and do anything and to act with everybody if he can only 
contribute to upset the Government, though it is not easy to 
discover the cause of his bitterness, or what scheme of future 
conduct he has devised for himself. Lord John came over 
in a state of ill-humor which at first he appears to have 
kept under to a certain degree, and to have wished to have 
the appearance of acting with jierfect independence, but still 
fairly and impartially speaking out what he thought the 
truth without caring whom he offended or whom he pleased 
by so doing. Thus he shocked Clarendon by what he said 
on the affair of Naples, and then pleased him very much by 
his next speech on foreign affairs. Then on the Budget he 
came to the aid of Lewis with great effect and bowled over 
Gladstone and Disraeli, yet even then evincing a certain 
spirit of hostility about the tea duties ; but on the China 
question he gave way to all the bitter feeling that is in him, 
and cast all moderation to the winds. It is impossible to 
conjecture what he promises to himself, and what purpose 
he has in view by this conduct, for it is quite extraordinary 
to what absolute nothingness his political power has fallen. 
Here is a man who has been leader with occasional intervals 
of Whig Governments and of the Whig party since 1834, 
and with great and admitted abilities, and yet he is so en- 
tirely without following in the House of Commons that three 



354 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

insignificant votes are the most he can command. His 
speech the other night was very well received because it was 
a very good one, and because he spoke the opinions of the 
greater number of his hearers. 

There is, in fact, a strong feeling, both in Parliament 
and the country, against all that has been done at Canton, 
and this is the more remarkable because the press has upon 
the whole, taken the opposite side. I never could under- 
stand why Palmerston and Clarendon were in such a hurry 
to identify themselves with Bowring's proceedings, and to 
send out without delay a full approbation of all he had done, 
till Granville told me that both of them had been under the 
extraordinary delusion that the Canton affair had been very 
well done and would be received with great applause and sat- 
isfaction here ; in point of fact, that it was a great hit, from 
which the Government would derive considerable advantage, 
he (Granville) himself showing his good sense by taking ex- 
actly the opposite view. He tells me that George Lewis does 
so likewise, and I dare say, if the truth were known, that 
the majority of the Cabinet coincide with them. It is re- 
markable that the defence of the Government in the Lords 
should have fallen on a man who was speaking all the time 
against his own opinion, and I should think Labouchere, 
who took up the defence in the House of Commons, was the 
most unlikely man in the world to approve of such proceed- 
ings. Political necessities which compel men to act thus in- 
sincerely, and to strive to make the worse appear the better 
cause, with the full conscionsness that they are fighting 
against truth, appear to me frightfully demoralizing, a sad 
searing of the political conscience, the spectacle of which is 
enough to scare honorable minds from entering into an arena 
where the contest is to be carried on in such a manner. 

If the Government should be beaten on the pending 
question, they will dissolve, at least if the state of their 
financial affairs will allow them ; but at all events they will 
not resign without an appeal to the country, and this appeal 
they will make not on this or that question, but on the 
great one of all, whether the country desires that Palmerston 
should continue to be its minister, and on this it is impossible 
to doubt what will be the reply. His popularity is a fact 
beyond all doubt or cavil, and it is the more decisive, because 
not only is there no rival popularity, but every one of the 
other public men who have been, are, or might be his rivals 



1857.] LORD PALMERSTON'S POPULARITY. 355 

are absolutely unpopular. Nobody cares any longer for 
John Russell ; everybody detests Gladstone ; Disraeli has no 
influence in the country, and a very doubtful position with 
his own party. He and Derby have made up their minds to 
coalesce with Gladstone on the first good opportunity, but it 
seems not unlikely that they will make such a split among 
their own followers by so doing as to lose more than they 
will gain by the junction. Palmerston's popularity does not 
extend to his colleagues, for not one of whom does anybody 
care a straw. It is purely personal, and I do not think he 
would strengthen himself by any other alliance he could 
form. This fact of his popularity just at the end of his 
strange and chequered career is most remarkable and not a 
little unaccountable ; but innumerable circumstances prove 
this to bo the undoubted truth, and that it is manifested more 
decidedly out of the House than in it, for in the House of 
Commons it does not amount to a certainty of his having 
always a majority. It is curious that a session which not 
long ago looked like being a very quiet one, in which there 
would be ample leisure for consideration of legal and other 
practical reforms, should in the first weeks be a scene of 
tremendous conflict, in which the very existence of the 
Government is trembling in the balance. 

March 2d. — Derby has announced to his assembled party 
that he is ready to join with Gladstone, though he has not 
done so yet, and that as they are a minority in the House of 
Commons, they ought to form any junction that would 
make them strong enough to oust the present Government 
and form a Conservative one. He finds it, however, a diffi- 
cult matter to reconcile them all to any alliance with the 
detested Gladstone. Great exertions have been made to 
secure a majority to the Government, and John Russell's 
friends (the Duke of Bedford especially) are bestirring them- 
selves to take away some of the odium that attaches to 
Lord John by securing his two or three followers for the 
division. 

March 3d. — Nothing can equal the excitement and curi- 
osity here about the division. All sorts of efforts have been 
made all ways to influence votes. George Byng and others 
who meant to vote with John Russell have been obliged to 
promise to vote with the Government. Palmerston has had 
a meeting and harangued them cheerily, but in spite of 
everything Hayter does not think he will have a majority, 



356 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

but everybody expects it to be so near that there are as many 
opinions as men. Mucli is expected to depend on Palmer- 
ston's sj)eech, and unluckily for him he is ill with both 
gout and cold. If they are beaten they will dissolve as 
speedily as possibly. 

March Uh. — A majority of 16 against the Government, 
more than any of them expected. A magnificent speech of 
Gladstone ; Palmerston's speech is said to have been very dull 
in the first part, and very bow-wow in the second ; not very 
judicious, on the whole bad, and it certainly failed to decide 
any doubtful votes in his favor. I rejoice that the House 
of Commons has condemned this iniquitous case for the 
honor of the country. I do not believe it will make any 
difference as to the Government. When Palmerston appeals 
to the country it will not be on the merits of the Canton case, 
but on his own political existence, whether they will have 
him for Minister or no. It is not, however, yet by any means 
clear what the real opinion of the country is upon the ques- 
tion itself, and whether they will be for the right or for the 
expedient, or that which the Government thinks to be the 
expedient. 

Hatcliford, March 10th. — The intention of Government 
to dissolve Parliament was announced on Friday last, and as 
far as one can judge at present, Palmerston seems likely to 
have it all his own way. The press generally espouses his 
cause, and the " Times " particularly takes up the cudgels 
for him vehemently, and cries out " Coalition," and abuses 
the majority and all who voted in it. At present, public 
opinion seems to be running in his favor, and there is every 
appearance of his having a triumphant election. But the cry 
of " coalition and faction " is perfectly absurd, and nothing 
more than the mere jargon which all parties employ as their 
battle cry. There has been no coalition whatever, and that 
those who clamor against it very well know. The only coali- 
tion of which there has been any question has been one be- 
tween Gladstone (with or without the other Peelites) and 
Disraeli and Derby, but that has hitherto been in posse rather 
than in esse, and it would have been much more plausible to 
raise the cry on the Budget than on the Canton question. 
Nobody can read the list of the division without seeing that 
the majority com]3rised the names of people who have never 
dreamt of any coalition with anybody, and who voted entirely 
with reference to the merits of the particular case, and though 



1857.] DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 357 

some (including Disraeli and Gladstone) wished to damage 
the Government, many others were either friendly to them 
generally, or at least neutral. To say that the majority was 
made up of a factious coalition of men who sought to turn 
the Government out and to take their places, is a wilful and 
deliberate lie, but it suits the Government to raise the cry, 
and they find plenty of people to re-echo and to believe it. 
As to the question itself, I am sure that some of the Cabinet, 
and probably more than I know of, were in their hearts and 
consciences as much against the question as any of their 
opponents. Palmerston's popularity, and the manner in which 
he is encouraged and supported by the country, and the sym- 
pathy he finds are really most extraordinary. It provokes 
me, because I think his great success unmerited, but I have 
no wish to see him defeated at the election, because I see 
no prospect of any better Government being formed. The 
pretension of the Government and of their noisy supporters 
to find fault Avith the House of Commons for expressing its 
independent opinion upon the conduct of the officials in 
China is most preposterous and arrogant. Everybody admits 
that the Government was not morally responsible for what 
was done, but because they chose, without any necessity, to 
approve those acts and to accept the political responsibility 
of them, it is pretended that the House of Commons ought 
not to have taken the liberty to express any adverse opinion 
on the matter, and that it was factious to do so. The scrape, 
if it was one, the Government got themselves into by their 
precipitate approval of Bowring, and tliere was nothing in 
the resolution and the vote which ought to have been 
considered as implying any general want of confidence on 
the part of the House of Commons, more particularly Avhen 
the Government has just before carried their Budget by 
large majorities, and had not met with any difficulty or 
rebuff on any point. If, indeed, matters are come to such a 
pass, and such divinity hedges in the Palmerston Govern- 
ruent that the House of Commons is to be precluded from 
censuring any transaction, wherever and by whomsoever 
done, which the Government thinks fit to sanction and 
approve of, and if the fact of many men of very different 
opinions and opposite parties concurring in such a vote is to 
expose the majority by which the vote is carried to a charge 
of faction, coalition, and all sorts of base motives, then 
indeed, instead of asking the Duke of Wellingtons's celebrated 



358 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

question, " How is the King's Government to be carried on ? " 
it will be time to ask whether the Queen's Government is to 
be considered despotic and infallible, and the functions of 
the House of Commons reduced to the very humble ones of 
registering their acts and re-echoing their approbation. 

It seems to be entirely forgotten that in times when the 
Royal and ministerial authority were much stronger than 
they are supposed to be now, and before the Eef orm Bill had 
effected a sort of revolution in favor of the democratic 
principle, all governments, however powerful or popular, sus- 
tained occasional defeats and were obliged to submit to them, 
it being of course perfectly understood that defeats which 
conveyed want of confidence and the withdrawal of the 
general support of the House of Commons were to be deemed 
fatal and conclusive. Every case of this kind must be deter- 
mined according to the es[)ecial circumstances of it, but it is 
a mere pretence to treat the Canton question as one of this 
description, and the truth is that it is a dodge on their part, 
and a pretext for going to the country and obtaining a 
majority, as they think they have an opportunity of doing, 
on false pretences and by means of a vast deal of humbug. 
The worst is, that after the immediate purpose has been 
answered, there is certain to be some dangerous reaction, 
and as the cry of "Palmerston" will be the only one got 
up for the occasion, and everybody will be acceptable who 
will declare for him, whatever crotchets or cries he may 
join to his partisanship, we shall probably have a House of 
Commons full of all sorts of mischievous people stirring 
every variety of mischievous question. 

March lUh. — I returned yesterday from Hatchford and 
find the current still running strong, biit some think a 
reaction in favor of John Russell has already begun. He 
stands for the City and is in very good spirits, though his 
chances of success do not look bright ; but he is a gallant 
little fellow, likes to face danger, and comes out well in 
times of difficulty. 

March 2iUh. — The dissolution took place on Saturday, and 
all the world is busy about the elections ; many places are 
without candidates, or with very bad ones, and unable to find 
good ones. The dinner at the Mansion House the other day 
to the Ministers was a sort of triumph to Palmerston, who 
was rapturously received and cheered. He made a very bad 
speech, but which did very well for such an audience. It was 



185Y.] THE LIDDELL v. WESTERTON CASE. 359 

full of claptraps and reiterations of the exploded charges of 
coalition, etc., which he is not ashamed to harp upon, and 
in his address to Tiverton he talks of the " combination only 
formed last session " to turn him out. I find myself, malgre, 
moi, thrown back into my old state of antagonism toward 
Palmerston, and what is very paradoxical, I am so without 
any hostility to his Government or any desire for its being 
overthrown, for I cannot descry any chance of a better, or, 
indeed, any possibility of forming another able to carry on 
affairs at all ; but I am inexpressibly disgusted at the egre- 
gious folly of the country at his being made such an idol in 
this ridiculous way, and at the false and hypocritical pre- 
tences upon which this dissolution has been founded, and 
the enormous and shameful lying with which the country is 
deluo-ed. I long to write, print, and publish the truth, and 
to expose this miserable delusion ; but I repress the desire, 
because I cannot do so without exciting bitter personal ani- 
mosities, probably quarrels, and I can see no reasonable hope 
of producing any effects which would sufficiently repay me 
for such consequences. 

The day before yesterday Pemberton Leigh gave Judg- 
ment in the Privy Council in the case of Liddell and West- 
erton ; the Judicial Committee reversed in great measure 
the judgments in the Courts below of Dr. Lushington and 
Sir John Dodson, but not entirely. It was a very able judg- 
ment, and prepared with great care and research, and so 
moderately and fairly framed that it was accepted unani- 
mously by the Committee, and even by the Bishops of Can- 
terbury and London, both Low Churchmen. It was drawn 
up by Pemberton Leigh himself, and its publication will 
give the world in general some idea of his great ability, with 
the extent of which few are acquainted. It is a very sin- 
gular thing that in such times as these, and when there is 
such a dearth of able men and so great a demand for them, 
that he should voluntarily condemn himself to a state of 
comparative obscurity, and refuse to take the station in pub- 
lic life which it would be difficult to find any other man so 
well qualified to fill. 

March 28th.— At Althorp the last two days. Palmer- 
ston's address to Tiverton, following his speech at the Man- 
sion* House, has excited great indignation in all Avho are not 
thorough Palmerstonians. Both were full of deception and 
falsehood. John Kussell is particularly incensed, and said 



360 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIIL 

these two productions were unworthy of a gentleman, and 
so they were. Malmesbury has addresssed to Palmerston a 
letter in the newspapers on the subject, which though not 
well written is true, and fully justified by what Palmerston 
said ; but all this signifies very little, the current is too strong 
to be opposed, and it is provoking to see the Conservatives 
endeavoring to bolster up their pretensions by saying they 
would have supported Palmerston on the China question, if 
they had been in Parliament, or promising to support him 
if they are elected. Yesterday, which w^as the first day of 
returns, does not give much difference ; to-day is the polling 
for the City, and nobody has an idea how the election will 
go, whether Lord John will come in, and if he does which of 
the four will go to the wall. He was enthusiastically received 
yesterday, and the show of hands was unanimous in his 
favor, but this proves very little, and his organization is 
miserably defective ; had it been better and begun earlier, it 
is probable that his success would have been certain ; he is 
the favorite as it is. Palmerston's speech at Tiverton yester- 
day was less objectionable than his address and speech at 
the Mansion House, and he left himself entirely unfettered 
on the subject of Eeform, and rightly. The Parliament 
promises to be a Eadical one, and I fully expect that the re- 
stilt of all this great commotion will be to give a stimulus to 
organize Eeform ; nor will it surprise me if Palmerston should 
find it conducive to his interest as minister to appear in the 
character of a Eeformer, if he were to fling overboard all 
his old opinions, and to pay this price for a renewed lease 
of his own power. Wilkes used to say he had never been 
a Wilkite, but Palmerston has never been anything but a 
Palmerston ian, and I firmly believe that at seventy- three 
years of age his single thought is how to secure for himself 
power for his life, and that he will not scruple to accept 
measures which, so far as he thinks about it, he believes to 
be constitutionally dangerous and mischievous if by so doing 
he can maintain himself on the Treasury Bench. 

March 29th. — G-reat excitement yesterday in the town, 
particularly at Brooks's. The most interesting event was the 
City election, and the return, which under the circumstances 
may be called triumphant, of John Eussell, which was made 
more agreeable to himself and his friends by the defeal; of 
Eaikes Currie, who came from Northampton on purpose to 
turn him out. Up to the last hour John Eussell continued 



1857.] RESULTS OF THE ELECTION. 361 

to lead at the head of the poll, after which he fell off and 
only ended third, but still he had 7,000 votes after having 
been assured by his old adherents (J. Abel Smith in par- 
ticular) that his success was hopeless, that he would be beaten 
"disgracefully," and probably would have hardly any votes 
at all. 

After this the most interesting events were the defeats of 
the Manchester men, and generally, though not universally, 
of the voters for Cobden's motion, Bright and Milner Gibson, 
Cobden, Ricardo, Layard, all defeated. It seems that Man- 
chester and the other great towns had got tired of their 
leaders, who had made themselves unpopular by their oppo- 
sition to the war. I am sorry for the loss of Bright and 
Cobden, because such able men ought not to be ousted and 
replaced by mediocrities. 

Palmerston's speech at Tiverton was in the same style, 
but far less offensive and objectionable than his address and 
his Mansion House harrangue. The most remarkable part of 
it was the total silence which he observed as to his intention 
upon reforms and domestic questions generally, or rather his 
positive refusal to say a word on the subject or to pledge 
himself in any way ; he evidently means to meet his Par- 
liament free to take any course his interests may dictate. 
There was one remarkable speech yesterday, considering what 
the man is who uttered it. Vernon Smith at Northampton 
spoke as follows : "Mr. Disraeli said Lord Palmerston was 
the Tory chief of a Eadical Cabinet. I do not admit the 
description as regards Lord Palmerston, but I accept the 
designation as to the Cabinet of which I am a member. A 
great statesman once said that parties were like fishes (it was 
snakes, I believe), and their heads were propelled by their 
tails, and it will very likely be found that the head of the 
Government will in like manner be propelled by his tail." 
The words are not exact, but the meaning is, and it must be 
owned a remarkable declaration for a Cabinet Minister to 
make as to his chief, and such a chief. I believe that it will 
turn out to be the truth. The returns so far as they have 
gone are frightful, and a deluge of Eadicalism and violence 
will burst out in the House of Commons. There will be a 
Eadical majority prepared to support Lord Palmerston and 
to keep him in power, but on the condition of his doing 
their bidding, and consenting to their demands, nor will he 
be able to help himself. He will no doubt try to do as little 

16 



362 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. 

as possible, but there will be no strong Conservative party to 
•which he can appeal from and against his own Eadical sup- 
porters ; the Conservatives will be too weak to help him, and 
probably will not be inclined to help him out of his difficulty 
if they could. At his age his only object will be to grasp 
power while he lives. A2)res moi le deluge will be his motto, 
and my expectation is that he will never consent to sacrifice 
power from scruples or upon principles, and will consent to 
anything that may be necessary rather than allow himself 
to be outbid and to see power torn from his hands. The 
prospect seems to me tremendous. The cry of Palmerston, 
and nothing but Palmerston, has done very well to go to the 
hustings on, but having accomplished its purpose, other cries 
much more serious will soon take its place, and we shall see, 
as the Prince said. Constitutional Government on its trial 
with a vengeance. 

March dlst. — The elections continue to be unfavorable 
to the Conservatives, but the people at Brooks's, and the 
Government generally, are too sanguine when they call every- 
thing gain to them where a Conservative is replaced by a 
Liberal, for in many cases the so-called Liberal is a vio- 
lent Eadical, very likely to give much more trouble to the 
Government than the Conservative who was turned out. 
The gains to Government up to this time (and the borough 
elections are all over) are calculated at 20, making a differ- 
ence of 40 votes ; but the Conservatives do not admit this, 
and will make other calculations with different results. 

There is no denying the fact, however, that a strong 
sense has been evinced of partiality for Palmerston and re- 
sentment against the China vote. The news of the Emperor 
of China having ordered Yeo to make peace on any terms 
comes very opportunely, but nothing can be so absurd as 
the pretence that by so doing the Emperor himself con- 
demns his Viceroy and justifies our conduct at Canton. It 
only proves that His Majesty is very much alarmed, and 
wishes to heal the breach as quickly as possible, and on any 
terms he can. I am bound to say that many people, not ex- 
travagant either, maintain that this promises to be a very 
good Parliament, and by no means so dangerous as my fears 
have pictured it to myself ; still I cannot look upon it as a 
safe and innocent Parliament. Cardwell's defeat at Oxford 
proves how low the Peelites are. Frederick Peel's loss of 
his seat is a great inconvenience to the Government, and 



185V.] DEATH OF LADY KEITH. 363 

one does not see how it is to be repaired, for it is almost im- 
possible in tliese days to treat any place (if one can be 
found) as a nomination borough, turn the sitting member 
out, cind put him in instead. The serious part of it is that 
he has to move the Army Estimates, and nobody else can do 
it now. 

Old Lady Keith is dead, at some prodigious age. She 
was the "Queeny"of Dr. Johnson, Mrs. Hale's daughter, 
and was the last surviving link between those times and our 
own, and probably the only person surviving who could re- 
member Johnson himself and his remarkable contempora- 
ries, or who had lived in intimacy with them. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Results of the Elections— Defeat of Cobden and Bright— The War with China— Death of 
Lady Ashburton — Lord I'almerston's Success — The Handel Concerts — M. Fould in 
London— The Quei-n and Lord Palmerston — The Indian Mutiny— The Prince Consort 
— Death of General Anson — The State of Indi;i — Koyal Guests — The Government of 
India — Temper of the House of Commons — Debates on India — Royal Visits— The 
Divorce Bill— The Divorce Bill in the House of Lords— Close of the Session— A Duke- 
dom offered to Lord Lansdowne- Death of Mr. Cioker— History of the Life Peerafres 
— The Indian Mutiny and the Eu.^sian War — The Strugrplc in India — Reinforceiiients 
for India — The Queen's Attention to Public Business — Attacks on Lord l/anning: — Big 
Ships and Big Bells — Lord Canning- defended— Couiteous Behavior of Foreign Nations 
— The Capture of Delhi and Lucknow — DiflicuUies in India— Depression in the City — 
Speculations on the Contingency of a Change of Government— The Kast India Com- 
pany and the Government — Exaggerated Reports from India — A Queen's Speech — 
The Bank Charter Act. 

April Uh, 1857. — The elections are drawing to a close. 
It is strange that what ought to be a matter of fact is made 
matter of opinion, for while the Whigs of Brooks's and the 
Liberals generally claim an immense gain, the Conservatives 
and the Carlton Clnb and their organs only admit an in- 
considerable loss. There can be no doubt, however, that a 
great many Conservatives have lost their seats, and a great 
many Radicals and Palmerstonians have been elected. At 
Brooks's they insist that it will be a very good Parliament, 
and they are throwing their caps up at the Government 
successes ; but it seems to me that they are reckoning some- 
Avhat rashly, and counting as gains to the Government many 
men who will be found more troublesome and unmanageable 
than the moderate men over whose defeats they are exulting. 



364 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

But as to gains and losses, and all calculations, I agree with 
the late Speaker, Lord Eversley, who said to me the other 
day that nothing could be so fallacious as all such calcu- 
lations, and that it is impossible to know the result till Par- 
liament meets, and it is seen how the new members group 
themselves. The most striking and remarkable feature of 
this election is the complete rout of the Peelites and of the 
Manchester men, the Old Leaguers. For a long time past 
it has been absurd to talk of the Peelites as a Party. There 
were not a dozen men in the House of Commons who could 
by any possibility be so designated, and in fact only a few 
formerly members of Sir Eobert Peel's Government or of 
Lord Aberdeen's, who still kept together, and were called 
Peelites, because they would not be either Whigs or To- 
ries or Eadicals. Now the designation must fall to the 
ground. Half these men have lost their seats ; of the 
rest, some repudiate the association and announce their 
independence ; some join, or ready to join, Derby and 
the' Tories ; others openly declare their adhesion to Palm- 
erston ; and thus in one way or another there are no Pee- 
lites left. 

The fate of Bright, Cobden, and Co. exhibits a curious 
example of the fleeting and worthless nature of popular fa- 
vor. They who were once the idols of millions, and not 
without cause, have not only lost all their popularity, but 
are objects of execration, and can nowhere find a parlia- 
mentary resting place. No constituency will hear of them. 
The great towns of Lancashire prefer any mediocrities to 
Bright and Cobden. It seems that they had already ceased 
to be popular, when they made themselves enormously un- 
popular, and excited great resentment, by their opposition 
to the Russian War, the rage for which was not less intense 
in Manchester and all the manufacturing district than in 
the rest of the kingdom. This great crime, as it appeared 
in the eyes of their constituents, was never pardoned, and 
their punishment was probably determined while the war 
was still going on. As the favor of Cobden fell, so that of 
Palmerston rose, and his visit to Manchester a few months 
ago raised the favor to a ]3itch of enthusiasm. When Cob- 
den therefore originated the China motion, he no doubt 
gave great offence, and he sealed his own condemnation. 
Bright has been long abroad, and has done nothing lately 
that any one could take umbrage at, but his opposition to 



1857.] THE WAR WITH CHINA. 365 

tlie war has not been forgotten or forgiven, and when Cob- 
den appeared at Manchester as his representative, and made 
a very able speech in his behalf, it is highly probable that 
his advocacy was in itself fatal to his re-election. It seems 
qnite clear that another man, Sir Elkanah Armytage, lost 
his election at Salford solely because he was strongly sajs- 
ported and recommended by Cobden. 

May 1st. — Parliament met yesterday, the last (Irish) 
election having ended only a few days before. Denison's 
election as Speaker went oS very quietly. The prevailing 
opinion now seems to be that this will j^rove a good Parlia- 
ment, on the whole safe and moderate, and an improvement 
on the last. All the news we get from China, or in refer- 
ence to Chinese affairs, only proves the more strongly how 
foolish and mischievous the conduct of Bowring was, and 
what a sound and correct judgment the vote of the House 
of Commons expressed upon it. It is impossible to con- 
jecture what the result of the war now begun will be, but 
is quite certain that we shall have to wade to our ends 
through all sorts of horrors and atrocities, which it does not 
become us to inflict, though the Chinese are a savage, stu- 
pid, and uninteresting people, who in some degree deserve 
the sufferings that will be inflicted on them, though perhaps 
not at our hands. 

George Anson ^ writes to me from India that there is a 
strange feeling of discontent pervading the Indian Army 
from religious causes, and a suspicion that we are going to 
employ our irresistible power in forcing Christianity upon 
them. It is not true, but the natives will never be quite 
convinced that it is not, as long as Exeter Hall and the mis- 
sionaries are permitted to have carte hJanche and work their 
will as they please in those regions. 

3Iay IQth. — I passed the last week at Wynnstay for 
Chester races ; a very fine place. The events that have 
occurred in the course of the last ten days are the opening 
of the Manchester Exhibition, very successfully ; the first 
proceedings of the new Parliament, which promise a quiet 
session and a peaceful reign to Palmerston, who has put the 
House in good humor by promising a Reform Bill next 
year ; the death of the Duchess of Gloster, and, what inter- 

> [General Anson was at this time Commander-in-Chief in India. He died 
there sliortly after the outbreak of the grciit military revolt, of which the letter 
mentioned in the text was the first premonitory indication.] 



366 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

ests the world still more, the death of Lady Ashbnrton.'^ 
Milnes has written a short, but very fair and appropriate 
notice of her for the '^Times'' newspaper, which of course 
was intended as a eulogy, and not as a character, with the 
bad as well as the good that could be said of her. Lady 
Ashburtou was perhaps, on the whole, the most conspicuous 
woman in the society of the present day. She was un- 
doubtedly very intelligent, with much quickness and viyacity 
in conversation, and by dint of a good deal of desultory 
readiug and social intercourse with men more or less dis- 
tinguished, she had improved her mind, and made herself a 
very agreeable woman, and had acquired no small reputa- 
tion for ability and wit. It is never difficult for a woman in 
a great position and with some | talent for conversation to 
attract a large society around her, and to have a number of 
admirers and devoted habitues. Lady Ashburton laid herself 
out for this, and while she exercised hospitality on a great 
scale; she was more of a preciouse than any woman I have 
known. She was, or affected to be, extremely intimate with 
many men whose literary celebrity or talents constituted 
their only attraction, and while they were gratified by the 
attentions of the great lady, her vanity was flattered by the 
homage of such men, of whom Carlyle was the principal. It 
is only justice to her to say that she treated her literary 
friends with constant kindness and the most unselfish atten- 
tions. They, their wives and children (when they had any), 
were received at her house in the country, and entertained 
there for weeks without any airs of patronage, and with a 
spirit of genuine benevolence as well as hospitality. She 
was in her youth tall and commanding in person, but 
without any pretension to good looks ; still she was not 
altogether destitute of sentiment and coquetry, or incapable 
of both feeling and inspiring a certain amount of passion. 
The only man with whom she was ever what could be called 
171 love was Clarendon, and that feeling was never entirely 
extinct, and the recollection of it kept up a sort of unde- 
fined relation between them to the end of her life. Two 

1 [Ilarriet Mary, eldest daughter of the sixth Earl of Sandwich, was married 
In 182S to William Binorham Baring, afterward second Baron Ashburton. One 
son, the only issue of this marriage, died in infancy. Lady Ashburton was dis- 
tin,s:uished for lier wit, her social qualities, and herliospitality, which made Bath 
House and the Grange the centres of a brilliant literary society, well known by 
the records of It in the Life of Mr. Carlyle and the Autobiography of Sir Henry 
Taylor.] 



1857.] DEATH OF LADY ASHCURTON. 367 

men were certainly in love with her, both distinguished in 
different ways. One was John Mill, who was sentimentally 
attached to her, and for a long time was devoted to her 
society. Hhe was pleased and flattered by his devotion, but 
as she did not in the slightest degree return his passion, 
though she admired his abilities, he at last came to resent 
her indifference, and ended by estranging himself from her 
Entirely, and proved the strength of his feeling by his ob- 
stinate refusal to continue even his acquaintance with her. 
Her other admirer was Charles Buller, with whom she was 
extremely intimate, but without ever reciprocating his love. 
Curiously enough, they were very like each other in person, 
as well as in their mental accomplishments. They had both 
the same spirits and cleverness in conversation, and the same 
quickness and drollery in repartee. I remember Allen well 
describing them, when he said that their talk was like that 
in the polite conversation between Never Out and Miss 
Notable. Her faults appeared to be caprice and a disposition 
to quarrels and tracasseries about nothing, which, however 
common among ordinary women, were unworthy of her 
superior understanding. But during her last illness all that 
was bad and hard in her nature seemed to be improved and 
softened, and she became full of charity, good-will, and the 
milk of human kindness. Her brother and her sister-in-law, 
who, forgetting former estrangements, hastened to her sick- 
bed, were received by her with overflowing tenderness, and 
all selfish and unamiable feelings seemed to be entirely 
subdued within her. Had she recovered she would probably 
have lived a better and a ha]ipier woman, and as it is she 
has died in charity with all the world, and has left behind 
her corresponding sentiments of affection and regret for her 
memory. I was once very intimate with her, but for a 
long time past our intimacy had dwindled into ordinary ac- 
quaintance. 

June 3d. — There is really nothing to write about, but it 
is evident that the session is going to pass away in the most 
quiet and uneventful manner. Never had Minister such a 
jieaceful and undisturbed reign as Palmerston's. There is 
something almost alarming in his prodigious felicity and 
success. Everything prospers with him. In the House of 
Commons there is scarcely a semblance of opposition to any- 
thing he proposes ; a speech or two here and there from 
Eoebuck, or some stray Radical, against some part of the 



368 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

Princess Eoyal's dowry, but hardly any attempt at dirisions ; 
and when there have been any, the minorities have been so 
ridiculously small as to show the hopelessness of opposition. 
The only men who might be formidable or troublesome 
seem to have adopted the prudent course of not kicking 
against the pricks. John Eussell evinces no hostility, and 
accepts Hayter's letters. Gladstone hardly ever goes near the 
House of Commons, and. never opens his lips. There seems 
to be a disposition in both Houses to work and bring legisla- 
tive reforms to a conclusion. The House of Lords has been 
very busy with the Divorce Bill, and there has been a good 
deal of vigorous debating, particularly among Lyudhurst, the 
Bishops of Oxford and London, and Campbell and Wensley- 
dale, who hate each other, and have interchanged blows. 

Ju7ie 20tli. — All this past week the world has been occu- 
pied with the Handel Concerts at the Crystal Palace, which 
went off with the greatest success and edal. I went to the 
first ("Messiah"), and the last ("Israel in Egypt"); they 
were amazingly grand, and the beauty of the locale, with 
the vast crowds assembled in it, made an imposing spectacle. 
The arrangements were perfect, and nothing could be easier 
than the access and egress, or more comfortable than the 
accommodation. But the wonderful assembly of 2,000 vocal 
and 500 instrumental performers did not produce musical 
effect so agreeable and so perfect as the smaller number in 
the smaller space of Exeter Hall. The volume of sound was 
dispersed and lost in the prodigious space, and fine as it un- 
doubtedly v/as, I much prefer the concerts of the Harmonic 
Society. 

Eould ^ came over from Paris the other day for the pur- 
pose of going to see the Manchester Exhibition. He was 
received with great distinction. The Queen invited him to 
Windsor for Ascot, and Granville gave him a breakfast here 
to meet the financial notabilities whom he wanted to talk to. 
We had the Chancellor of the Exchequer and an ex-Chan- 
cellor (C. Wood), the Governor of the bank, and the ex-Gov- 
ernor of the Bank, cum muUis aliis. He said that their 
financial affairs in France were in a very healthy state, which 
is contrary to the general impression here. 

1 [M. Achille Fonld, who had made a large fortune as a banker in Paris, was 
one of the ablest and most honorable of the Ministers of Napoleon III. He was 
much attached to this country, where he had many friends, and he encouraged 
the Emperor in that Free Trade policy which led to the Commercial Treaty of 
1860, and strengthened the ties between England and France.] 



1857.] THE QUEEN AND LORD PALMERSTOX. 369 

I met Clarendon in the Park a day or two ago, and had 
some talk with him in the friendly and intimate tone of 
former times, which rejoiced my heart, because it proved that 
though circumstances and accidental habits had impeded our 
intercourse, there exist still the same feelings of regard 
toward me in his mind, and if our intercourse was re- 
stored again, he would probably fall into the same habit of 
confidence and communication which formerly existed, but 
which has lately been completely interrupted. lie talked 
of Palmerston, his position and his health, and his rapports 
with the Queen, who is now entirely reconciled to him. She 
treats him with unreserved confidence, and he treats her 
with a deference and attention which have i)roduced a very 
favorable change in her sentiments toward him. Clarendon 
told me that Palmerston had lately been ailing in a way 
to cause some uneasiness. He had had a bad leg with a 
sore that it had been found difficult to heal, but he appears 
to have got over it. This might have been very serious. 
Clarendon talked one day to the Queen about Paimerston's 
health, concerning which she expressed her anxiety, when 
Clarendon said she might indeed be anxious, for it was of 
the greatest importance to her, and if anything happened to 
him he did not know where she could look for a successor to 
to him, that she had often expressed her great desire to have 
a strong Government, and that she had now got one, Palmer- 
ston being a really strong Minister. She admitted the truth 
of it. Clarendon said he was always very earnest with her 
to bestow her whole confidence on Palmerston, and not even 
to talk to others on any subjects which properly belonged 
to him, and he had more than once (when according to her 
custom, she began to talk to him on certain things) said to 
her, *' Madam, that concerns Lord Palmerston, and I think 
your Majesty had better reserve it for your communications 
Avith him." He referred to the wonderful change in his own 
relations with Palmerston, that seven or eight years ago 
Palmerston was full of hatred and suspicion of him, and now 
they were the best of friends, with mutual confidence and 
good will, and lately when he was talking to Palmerston of 
the satisfactory state of his relations with the Queen and of 
the utility it was to his Government that it should be so, Palm- 
erston said, "And it is likewise a very good thing tliat she 
has such boundless confidence in her Secretary for Foreign Af- 
fairs, when after all there is nothino; she cares about so much." 



370 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

June 28ih. — I went last Saturday week to Strawberry 
Hill.^ A large' party of people, the Persignys, the Speaker 
and Lady Charlotte, etc. ; it is an enjoyable villa, with its 
vast expanse of grass, profusion of flowers, and fine trees 
affording ample shade. Horace Walpole's ridicnlons house 
is unaltered, but furbished up and made comfortable. I- 
regret to hear that Denison does not make a very good 
Speaker, and that the G-overnment think they made a mis- 
take in putting him into the Chair. It was Palmerston's 
doing, who would hear of nobody else. There are several 
men among the Opposition who would probably have been 
fitter, but with the great majority the Government have they 
were in a manner compelled to take a man from their own 
party. Denison says it is owing to the laxity of Palmerston 
himself if things do not go on so well as they might in the 
House of Commons. 

At Hatchford the past week, and when I got to town I 
was apprised of the disastrous news from India,^ the most 
serious occurrence that has ever been in that quarter, not 
only from the magnitude of the events themselves as the 
telegraph conveys them, but because it is quite impossible 
to estimate the gravity of the case, nor what the extent of it 
may be. Till we receive the details it is idle to speculate 
upon it. 

The Queen has made Prince Albert ''Prince Consort" 
by a patent ordered in Council, but as this act confers on 
him neither title, dignity, nor privileges, I cannot see the 
use of it. He was already as high in England as he can be, 
assuming the Crown Matrimonial to be out of the question, 
and it will give him no higher rank abroad, where onr acts 
have no validity. 

July 15th. — For the last three weeks or more all public 
interest and curiosity have been absorbed in the affairs of 
India and the great Mutiny that has broken out there, and 
which has now assumed such an alarming character. I had 
intended to take some notice of this, and of other matters 

1 [Stra-wberry Hill was the residence of the Countess of Waldefrrave, to whom 
it had passed on the death of her second husband, the Eai-1 ol Waldearave. It 
was then, and continued to be until her death in 1879, the most hospitable villa 
in the neighborhood, and the constant resoit of all that was distinguished in 
politics an^ in letters.] 

" [The Indian mutiny broke out at Meerut on Sunday, 10th May, hut the de- 
tails were not known in England till nearly six weeks later. General Anson 
died at Kurnaul on the 27th May.] 



1857.] THE MUTINY IN INDIA. 37I 

which time and the hour have brought forth ; but, accord- 
ing to my bad custom, I kept putting it off, till at last all 
other things were driven out of my mind by the news which 
so unexpectedly reached us on Saturday last of the death of 
George Anson from a sudden attack of cholera. He was the 
oldest and most intimate friend I had, and almost the last 
surviving associate of my youth. I reserve for another mo- 
ment to say a word or two of a man who, without great 
abilities or a great career, was too conspicuous a member of 
society to be passed over without some notice. 

The alarm created here by the Indian news is very great, 
and Ellenborongh (reckoned a great authority on Indian 
matters) does his best to increase it. The serious part of it 
IS that no one can tell or venture to predict what the extent 
of the calamity may be, and what proportions the mischief 
may possibly assume. It is certain that hitherto the Govern- 
ment and the East India Company have been in what is 
called a fool's paradise on the subject. They have been so 
long accustomed to consider our Empire there as established 
on so solid a foundation, and so entirely out of the reach of 
danger, that they never have paid any attention to those who 
hinted at possible perils, and I don't think anybody ever 
foresaw anything like what has occurred, and they were 
disinclined to adopt any of the precautionary recommenda- 
tions which would have been attended with expense, and the 
Press, and the public who are always led by the Press, took 
the same easy view of the subject. While the Russian War 
was going on a clamor was raised against Government for 
not calling away all the British troops in India and sending 
them to the Crimea, and those who went mad about the 
Crimean War would willing having left India without a 
single European regiment, and have entrusted all our in- 
terests to the fidelity and attachment of the Native army. 
Though our Government was willing enough to enter into 
anything that the passion of the multitude suggested, they 
were not so insane as all that ; but as it is, we may consider 
it most providential that the mutiny did not show itself dur- 
ing the Russian, or indeed during the Persian war. If it had 
happened while we were still fighting in the Crimea, we 
could not have sent out the force that would have been in- 
dispensable to save India. At the present moment the in- 
terest of the public is not greater than its apprehensions and 
alarm. Rumors of every sort are rife, generally of the most 



372 EEIGN OF QUEEN VIOTOEIA. [Chap. XIV. 

disastrous kind, and tliougli the mails only come at a fort- 
night's interval, and it is phj^sically impossible that any in- 
telligence should reach us during those intervals, the public 
curiosity is fed and excited by continual rumors, which gen- 
erally circulate stories of fresh disasters and dangers. There 
is a disposition in some quarters to make if possible poor An- 
son the scapegoat, and, now that he is dead and cannot de- 
fend himself, to attribute to him and to his misconduct or 
laches the misfortunes that have befallen us. I know not 
what he may have written home to the civil and military 
authorities ; but, if I may judge by the tenor of his corre- 
spondence with me, I should infer that he has warned the 
Government against leaving India without adequate protec- 
tion, and constantly urged the expediency of sending out 
fresh troojDs. I have long expected that the day would come 
when we should find reason for regretting our expansive 
policy and our going on with continual conquests and an- 
nexations. 

We are overrun with Eoyalties present and prospective. 
Besides our Princess Eoyal's bridegroom, there are here the 
King of the Belgians' son and daughter. Prince Napoleon, 
the Queen of the Netherlands, and the MontjDensiers as 
Spanish Princes, in which capacity Persigny has had to pay 
his court to them, and they have had to receive the Ambas- 
sador of Louis Napoleon. 

July 19th. — Although it is impossible that any fresh ac- 
counts should have come from India, reports are rife of fresh 
insurrections and of all sorts of evils. Amid all the bad news 
from India the good fortune is that so many of the Native 
troops, and not only the military, but the whole population 
of the Punjaub, have shown so much fidelity and attachment 
to the British Grovernment. It is the strongest testimony to 
the wisdom and justice of our rule, and of the capacity of 
the natives to appreciate the benefits they derive from it, 
for beyond all question the introduction of European civiliza- 
tion into the East, and the substitution of such a government 
as that of England for the cruel, rapacious, and capricious 
dominion of Oriental chiefs and dynasties, is the greatest 
boon that the people could have had conferred upon them. 
Our administration may not have been faultless, and in some 
instances it may have been oppressive, and it may have often 
offended against the habits and prejudices of the natives, but 
it is certainly very superior in every respect, and infinitely 



1857.] TEMPER OF THE HOTISE OF COMMONS. 373 

more beneficent than any rule, either of Hindoos or Ma- 
hometans, that has ever been known in India. However, 
people much more civilized and more sagacious than the 
Indians do not always know what is best for them, or most 
likely to promote their happiness, so it will not be surprising 
if these disorders should continue to increase, supposing the 
means of immediately and effectually suppressing them 
should be found wanting. 

For the last week the House of Commons has presented a 
more animated appearance than during the preceding months 
of this dull and passive session. Gladstone has reappeared 
and proved that his oratorical powers have not been rusted 
by his retirement, and John Russell has come forth showing 
his teeth, but not yet attempting to bite the Government. 
Palmerston, evidently nettled by these two, as well as by 
Roebuck and Disraeli, has spoken with considerable asperity, 
and with an insolent air of superiority and defiance, which 
has hitherto not been usual to him, and which has given no 
little offence. There are evident symptoms of an approach- 
ing cessation of that humble and deferential submission to 
his will which has hitherto distinguished his servile majority, 
and though it is not clear in what way they will assert their 
independence, those who watch the symptoms think that he 
will not find the same passive disposition in the next session, 
and if anything should go seriously wrong there would be 
open and general rebellion. Up to the present time, how- 
ever, there is nothing to be seen but a certain amount of 
restlessness and a disposition to find fault, and the Govern- 
ment seem still to command the same enormous majorities, 
and Palmerston to be as powerful as ever, if he is not quite 
so popular. A violent effort is made by a number of Liber- 
als in the House of Commons to renew the contest with the 
House of Lords for the admission of the Jews (the newspa- 
pers contain all the details of this attempt), which cannot 
be pursued without mischievous results, and will fail in its 
object. 

August 2d. — The Civil War in India, for such it may be 
called, supersedes every other object of interest, and the suc- 
cessive mails are looked for with the utmost impatience. The 
Government, though anxious and nervous, are not disheart- 
ened, and as far as we can judge the authorities in India have 
not been deficient in the emergency. Canning writes in good 
spirits, and all accounts agree in reporting that he has done 



374 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

his work hitlierto very well. The discussions in Parliament 
have been on the whole creditable. Disraeli came down to 
the House of Commons with a long set oration, in which he 
entered at great length into the causes of the present confu- 
sion, and the misgovernment and bad policy which had en- 
gendered it, and although his speech was able, and probably 
contained a great deal that was true, it was deemed (as it 
was) mischievous and ill-timed, and very ill received by the 
House. He was rebuked with some asperity by Tom Baring, 
his own political adherent, and by Lord John Russell, who 
declared it to be the duty of the House to give every support 
to the Government in such a crisis. In the House of Lords 
Ellenborough was as mischievous and ill-disposed as Disraeli 
in the Commons, and was no better received. Granville ad- 
ministered to him a severe lecture, by no means ill done, and 
the House of Lords went with Granville. 

Last week was passed at Goodwood, with fine weather, 
and the usual fete with the unusual accompaniment of for- 
eign Royalties. First the Comte de Paris for a night, and 
then the Queen of the Netherlands for two. The young 
French Prince is good-humored and unpretending, the Queen 
is very gay, natural, and pleasing. I renewed an acquain- 
tance I had made with her at Ems many years ago. It is a 
new feature in the present day the flitting about of Royal 
personages. Besides these I have named, the Prince Napo- 
leon has been finishing a tour through England and part of 
Ireland by a visit to Osborne, and the Emperor and Empress 
are coming to Osborne for a week. Prince Albert has been 
to Brussels for the marriage of the Princess Charlotte, where 
he seems to have made his first experiment of the effect to be 
obtained from his newly-acquired title of "Prince Consort 
of England," as I see that he signed the marriage contract 
immediately after the Queen Marie Amelie, and before an 
Austrian Archduke who was present. 

August 12th. — I was at Stoke on Saturday and Sunday, 
and went over to see Bulstrode ; surprised to find the place 
less delabrS, and more capable of being restored than I ex- 
pected. I passed the first fifteen years of my life there, and 
don't know whether the place or myself is the most changed. 
To feed our curiosity during the intervals between the Indian 
mails, the newspapers, the " Times " especially, collect all the 
letters they can obtain, and publish them day by day. We 
have had a success in China, but I always tremble for the 



185Y.] THE DIVORCE BILL. 375 

consequences of our successes there, lest we should be se- 
duced or compelled into making permanent settlements and 
further extensions of our Empire in the East. Parliament 
is approaching its close, and the Government ends the session 
with unimpaired strength, but depending entirely on Palmer- 
ston's life, for there is nobody else capable of leading tlie 
House of Commons. There are growing symptoms of inde- 
pendence on the part of the House in the shape of adverse 
votes every now and then, principally on matters of estimates. 

August 20th. — I have read over the few preceding pages, 
and am disgusted to find how barren tliey are of interest and 
how little worth preserving. They show how entirely my 
social relations have ceased with all those friends and ac- 
quaintances from whom I have been in the habit of drawing 
the information which the earlier parts of this journal con- 
tain, and consequently my total ignorance of all political 
subjects. There was a time when 1 should have had a great 
deal to say upon passing events of interest or importance, 
but all that is gone by. 

The visit of the Emperor Napoleon at Osborne seems to 
have been spent in discussing the affairs of the Principalities 
and patching up the quarrels of the Ambassadors at Constan- 
tinople. As far as outward appearances go we do not ap- 
pear to have played a very brilliant part, and the Opposition 
papers thmk they have got a good case on which to twit 
Palmerston, but as I do not know what has really taken 
place, I abstain from expressing any opinion upon the con- 
duct of our Government. 

The session of Parliament has been prolonged beyond all 
expectation by the vehement and acrimonious debates upon 
the Divorce Bill in the House of Commons, which has been 
very ably and vigorously fought by Bethcll on one side ciwi 
quibusdam aliis, and Gladstone, Walpole, and Heathcote on 
the other. The Opposition hoped by constant obstructions 
to wear out the patience of Palmerston and to get the Bill 
put off till next session. Palmerston, however, was firmly 
resolved not to submit to this, and when they found that lie 
was so determined, they contented themselves with insisting 
upon certain amendments, which Palmerston thought it 
prudent to consent to, and the spirit of compromise and con- 
cession which the Government have lately evinced has softened 
in some degree the asperity of the debates, and at last enabled 
the Government to carry the Bill. Bethell, who has fought 



376 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

the battle with great ability, is not a little disgusted at the 
concessions to wliich he has been forced to consent, and has 
done so with a solemn protest and warning with regard to 
the exemption clause for the clergy, which the Government 
have very reluctantly consented to, but on which Granville 
assures me they had no option, and that if they had refused 
to give way they would have infallibly been beaten upon it. 
I dined at Richmond with Lord Lansdowne yesterday, to 
meet the Duchess of Orleans and the Comte de Paris. 1 had 
never seen her before. She is plain, but pleasing, and with 
very good manners. 

August 21sf. — The Divorce Bill having passed the House 
of Commons, went up to the House of Lords yesterday, when 
Lord Redesdale attempted to strangle it by a dodge, which 
he was obliged to give up in consequence of the vigorous 
attacks made upon him by the Ministerial side, who were 
supported even by St. Leonards, and particularly by an in- 
dignant and effective speech made by Lord Lansdowne, 
who, in spite of weakness and gout, from which he was 
actually suffering, spoke with extraordinary spirit. If Redes- 
dale had persisted, and gone to a division, the Government 
wonld probably have been beaten, and the labor of half the 
session would have been thrown away. As it is, there is to 
be a fight on Monday next, the result of which depends on 
which side can get the greatest number to come up from the 
country to vote. 

September 6th. — Went to Worsley on Thursday last, in 
order to go from thence to see the Manchester Exhibition, 
which is very pretty, but appears diminutive after the Lon- 
don and Sydenham Exhibitions. Its principal attraction is 
in the excellent collection of pictures ; it will be a faihire in 
a pecuniary point of view, but there are plenty of rich people 
in Manchester able and willing to bear the expenses. The 
session closed very quietly, though not without some grum- 
bling. Some complained that Parliament should not con- 
tinue to sit while the Indian troubles are going on with 
undiminished force, others that the Queen should go to 
Scotland ; but the Government have brought their labors 
to a close very prosperously, and Palmerston continues as 
powerful and as secure as ever. There is no longer the 
same enthusiasm there was for him, but there is a universal 
impression that he is indispensable, and on the whole a 
feelina: of satisfaction and confidence in his administration. 



1857.] DEATH OF MR. CROKER. 377 

Even I myself am compelled in candor to acknowledge that 
he does at least as well as anybody else would be likely to do, 
and no complaints can justly be made against the Govern- 
ment of any supineness in sending out adequate reinforce- 
ments to India. Lewis told me, just as Parliament was 
prorogued, that they were thoroughly impressed with the 
gravity of the case, and conscious of the danger, and that 
they were going to send out every man they could muster 
here or in the Colonies, and they have already despatched 
troops in great numbers with remarkable celerity. 

They have made some Peers, of whom the most con- 
spicuous is Macaulay, and I have not seen or heard any 
complaints of his elevation. Lord Lansdownc has declined 
the offered Dukedom, Avhich I rather regret, for such a 
public recognition of his character and services during a 
long life would have been graceful and becoming, and the 
report of it elicited from all quarters expressions of satisfac- 
tion at such an honor having been so worthily conferred. 

While Macaulay is thus ascending to the House of Peers, 
his old enemy and rival Croker has descended to the grave, 
very noiselessly and almost without observation, for he had 
been for some time so withdrawn from the world that he 
was nearly forgotten. He had lived to see all his predictions 
of ruin and disaster to the country completely falsified. He 
continued till the last year or two to exhale his bitterness and 
spite in the columns of the ''Quarterly Eeview," but at last 
the Editor (who had long been sick of his contributions) 
contrived to get rid of him. I never lived in any intimacy 
with him, and seldom met him in society, but he certainly 
occupied a high place among the second-rate men of his 
time ; he had very considerable talents, great industry, with 
much information and a retentive memory. He spoke in 
Parliament with considerable force, and in society his long 
acquaintance with the world and with public affairs, and his 
stores of general knowledge made him entertaining, though 
he was too overbearing to be agreeable. He was particularly 
disliked by Macaulay, who never lost an opportunity of vent- 
ing his antipathy by attacks upon him. 

Hohvood, September 10th. — I came here on Tuesday on 
a visit to the Chancellor.^ This beautiful place formerly 
belonged to Mr. Pitt, and abounds in local recollections of 

1 [Lord Cranworth at this time occupied Holwood as a summer residence.] 



378 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

the great Minister in the shape of "Pitt's Oak," ''Pitt's 
Well," &c. It is close to Hayes, where his father, the great 
Lord Chatham, lived and died. Nobody is here but Pem- 
berton Leigh. 

I asked the Chancellor what was the real history of the 
Life Peerage last year, and he told me that it originated in 
his finding great inconvenience from himself and Lord St. 
Leonards frequently sitting together in the House of Lords 
without any third, and as St. Leonards invariably opposed 
his view of every case great injustice was often done to 
suitors, and he urged on Palmerston the expediency of giving 
them some assistance. Palmerston said it would be a good 
opportunity for making some Life Peers. Wensleydale was 
willing to retire from the Bench and to accept a Life Peer- 
age, so it was determined to create him a Peer for life only, 
and they did this without the slightest idea that any objec- 
tion would be made in any quarter. He owned that he re- 
gretted this design had not been abandoned at once when 
the storm of opposition began. I told him that I had no 
doubt there would have been no opposition if he had im- 
parted the intentions of Government to some of the Law 
Lords, and obtained their acquiescence, for Lyndhurst 
would certainly not have objected, having himself told me 
that he meant to comply with Parke's request to him to in- 
troduce him to the House of Lords. The Chancellor said 
this was very likely true, but that he had never liked the at- 
tempt to force it through the House of Lords. He thought 
the opposition had originated with Campbell, who had proba- 
bly forgotten that he had recorded his own opinion, in his 
"Lives of the Chancellors," that Life Peerages would be ad- 
visable in certain cases. 

September 22d. — I am just returned from Doncaster, 
Bretby, and Wilby. The Indian mail arrived on Monday 
last, just as I was starting for Doncaster. The news it 
brought at first appeared rather good, but when it all came 
out it seemed so checkered with good and evil that it pro- 
duced great despondency. Still it is a curious circumstance 
(which I have heard no one else remark) that, with all the 
deep interest universally felt on account of this Sepoy war, 
not only as it regards our national interests, but out of feel- 
ing and sympathy for the vast numbers of our countrymen 
and women exposed to its horrors and dangers, it does not 
produce the same degree of enthusiasm as the Crimean AVar 



1857.] VISIT TO SCOTLAND. 379 

did, in which we had no real interest concerned, and which 
was only a gigantic folly on our part. People are very anx- 
ious about this war, and earnestly desire that the mutiny may 
be put down and punished, but they regard the war itself 
with aversion and horror, whereas they positively took pleas- 
ure in the war against Eussia, and were ready to spend their 
last guinea in carrying it on. A subscription has been set 
on foot, but although there never was an occasion on which 
it might have been expected that vast sums would be sub- 
scribed, the contributions have been comparatively small in 
amount, and it seems probable that a much less sum will be 
produced for the relief of the Indian sufferers than the Pa- 
triotic Fund or any of the various subscrij^tions made for 
purposes connected with the Crimean War. I was so struck 
with the backwardness of the Government in rewarding Gen- 
eral Havelock for his brilliant exploits, that I wrote to George 
Lewis and urged him to press his colleagues to confer some 
honor upon him and promote liim. 

I am on the point of starting for Balmoral, summoned 
for a Council to order a day of humiliation. 

Gordon Castle, Scptemher Tttli. — I left town on Tuesday 
afternoon, and slept that night at York, on Wednesday at 
Perth, and on Thursday posted to Balmoral, where I arrived 
between two and three o'clock. Granville, Panmure, and 
Ben Stanley formed the Council. Granville told me the 
Queen wished that the day appointed should be a Sunday, 
but Palmerston said it must be on a weekday, and very re- 
luctantly she gave way. What made the whole thing more 
ridiculous was, that she gave a ball (to the gillies and ten- 
an1;s) the night before this Council. The outside of the new 
house at Balmoral, in the Scotch and French style, is pretty 
enough, but the inside has but few rooms, and those very 
small not uncomfortable, and very simply decorated ; the 
place and environs are pretty. In the aifternoon I drove 
over to Invercauld with Phipps. On Friday morning 
came on here, by post, by rail, and by mail. Without 
any beauty, this is rather a fine place, and the house very 
comfortable. 

September 2Sth. — Went to Elgin to see the fine old ruin 
of the Cathedral, which is very grand, and must have been 
magnificent. It was built in the beginning of the thirteenth 
century, burnt down, and rebuilt in the fourteenth. I see 
they have done all I wanted to have done for General Have- 



380 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

lock. He has got a good service pension, is made Major- 
General and K. C. B. 

Dunrohin Castle, October 2d. — I came here from Gordon 
Castle on Wednesday, by sea from Burghead to the Little 
Eerry, a very tiresome way of travelling, the delays being 
detestable. Have long been most desirous of seeing this 
place, which has quite equalled my expectations, for it is a 
most princely possession, and the Castle exceedingly beauti- 
ful and moreover very comfortable. I start for London to- 
morrow morning with a long journey before me. 

The Indian news of this week as bad and promises as ill 
as well can be, and I expect worse each mail that comes. We 
are justly punished for our ambition and encroaching spirit, 
but it must be owned we struggle gallantly for what we have 
perhaps unjustly acquired. Europe behaves well to us, for 
though we have made ourselves universally odious by our 
insolence and our domination, and our long habit of bullying 
all the world, nobody triumphs over us in the hour of our 
distress, and even Eussia, who has no cause to feel anything 
but ill will toward us, evinces her regret and S3^mputhy in 
courteous terms. Whatever the result of this contest may 
be, it will certainly absorb all our efforts and occupy our full 
strength and power, so that we shall not be able to take any 
active or influential part in European affairs for some time 
to come. The rest of the Great Powers will have it in their 
power to settle everything as seems meet to them, without 
troubling themselves about us and our opinions. For the 
present we are reduced to the condition of an insignificant 
Power. It is certain that if this mutiny had taken place 
two years earlier, we could not have engaged at all in £lie 
Eussian War. 

London, Odoler 6t7i. — I left Dunrobin after breakfast 
on Saturday morning, 3d inst., and arrived in London on 
Monday (yesterday) at 11 a. m. My journey was after this 
wise : We (i. e., Mr. Marshall of the Life Guards, an aide-de- 
camp of Lord Carlisle's, who travelled from Dunrobin with 
me) got into the mail at Golspie and took our places to In- 
verness. At Tain, the first stage, we walked on, leaving the 
coach to overtake ns. After walking three miles, and no 
coach coming, we got alarmed, and, on enquiry of the first 
man we fell in with, found we had come the wrong way, and 
that the mail had gone on. We started on our return to 
Tain, and falling in with a good Samaritan in the shape of 



1857.] REINFORCEMENTS FOR INDIA. 381 

a banker in that place, who was driving in the opposite di- 
rection, he took us up in liis gig, and drove us back to the 
inn, where we took post, and followed the mail to Inverness, 
where we arrived an hour after it. There we slept, and at 
five minutes before five on Sunday morning we were in the 
mail again, and arrived at Perth at six o'clock, making 117 
miles in thirteen hours. In twenty minutes more we were 
in the mail train, and reached Euston Square safe and sound 
at eleven o'clock, doing the distance between Perth and Lou- 
don in seventeen and a half hours. I have seen a vast deal 
of very beautiful scenery of all sorts, but the most beautiful 
of all (and I never saw anything more lovely anywhere) is 
the road from Blair Atliol to Dunkeld, which includes the 
pass of Killiecrankie. 

I fell in with Granville and Clarendon at Watford, and 
got into their carriage. Of course my first enquiries were 
about India, when they told me that the general impression 
was not quite so unfavorable as that produced by the first 
telegraphic intelligence. Clarendon said that if it was pos- 
sible for Havelock to maintain himself a short time longer, 
and that reinforcements arrived in time to save the belea- 
guered places, the tide would turn and Delhi would fall ; 
but, if he should be crushed, Agra, Lucknow, and other 
threatened places would fall, with renewals of the Cawnpore 
horrors, and in that case the unlimited spread of the mutiny 
would be irrepressible, Madras and Bombay would revolt, all 
the scattered powers would rise up everywhere, and all would 
be lost. We both agreed that the next would probably 
be decisive accounts for weal or for woe. I told Granville 
afterward that I was glad to sec they had called out more 
militia, but regretted they had not done more, when he .=aid 
that he was inclined to take the same view, from which it 
was evident to me that there has been difl'erence of ojtinion 
in the Cabinet as to the extent to which the calling out of 
the militia should be carried. I urged him to press on his 
colleagues a more extensive measure. It is evident that 
public opinion will back them up in gathering together as 
great a force as possible in this emergency, regardless of 
expense, and at all events the course of this Government is 
not embarrassed and annoyed as that of another Government 
was three years ago in reference to the Crimean War. As a 
very true article in a very sensible paper set forth, the 
difference between then and now is, that the Government of 



382 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

Palmerston has fair play, while that of Lord Aberdeen never 
had it. The Press, and public opinion goaded and inflamed 
by the Press, treated the latter with the most flagrant in- 
justice, while Palmerston and the whole Government, out of 
regard for him, are treated with every sort of consideration 
and confidence. 

London, Octoher IWi. — I spent last week at Newmarket ; 
the details of the last Indian news which arrived there put 
people in better spirits, but they were too much occupied 
with the business of the place to think much about India. 
Eeturned to town on Friday, and went to The Grove yester- 
day ; had some talk with Clarendon, who said Palmerston 
was very off-hand in his views of Indian affairs, and had 
jumped "to the conclusion that the Company must be extin- 
guished. At the Cabinet on Friday last he said, " They 
need not meet again for some time, but they must begin to 
think of how to deal with India when the revolt was put 
down.. Of course everybody must see that the India Com- 
pany must be got rid of, and Vernon Smith would draw 
np a scheme in reference thereto." This brief announce- 
ment did not meet with any response, and there was no 
disposition to come to such rapid and peremptory conclu- 
sions, but it seemed not worth while to raise any discussion 
about it then. 

Clarendon then talked of the Court, and confirmed what 
I had heard before, going into more detail. He said that 
the manner in wliich the Queen in her own name, but with 
the assistance of the Prince, exercised her functions, was 
exceedingly good, and well became her position and was 
eminently useful. She held each Minister to the discharge 
of his duty and his responsibility to her, and constantly 
desired to be furnished with accurate and detailed informa- 
tion about all important matters, keeping a record of all 
the reports that were made to her, and constantly recurring 
to them, e.g. she would desire to know what the state of the 
Navy was, and what ships were in readiness for active service, 
and generally the state of each, ordering returns to be sub- 
mitted to her from all the arsenals and dockyards, and again 
weeks or months afterward referring to these returns, and 
desiring to have everything relating to them explained and 
accounted for, and so throughout every department. In 
this practice Clarendon told me he had encouraged her 
strenuously. This is what none of her predecessors ever 



1857.] ATTACKS ON LORD CANNING. 383 

did, and it is in fact the act of Prince Albert, who is to 
all intents and purposes King, only acting entirely in her 
name. All his views and notions are those of a Constitu- 
tional Sovereign, and he fulfils the duties of one, and at the 
same time makes the Crown an entity, and discharges the 
functions which properly belong to the Sovereign. I told 
Clarendon that I had been told the Prince had uj)on many 
occasions rendered the most important services to the Gov- 
ernment, and had repeatedly prevented their getting into 
scrapes of various sorts. He said it was perfectly true, and 
that he had written some of the ablest papers he had ever 
read. 

Clarendon said he had recently been very much pleased 
with the Duke of Cambridge, who had shown a great deal of 
sense and discretion, and a very accurate knowledge of the 
details of his office, and that he was a much better Com- 
mander-in-Chief than Hardinge. He had been lately sum- 
moned to the Cabinet on many occasions, and had given 
great satisfaction there. Clarendon talked of Vernon Smith, 
of whom he has no elevated opinion, but still thinks him 
not without merit, and that at this moment it would not 
be easy to replace him by some one clearly better fitted. 
He takes pains, is rather clever, and did better in the 
House of Commons than anybody gave him credit for last 
session ; he makes himself well informed upon everything 
about his office, and is never at a loss to answer any 
questions that are put to him, and to answer them satis- 
factorily. 

November 2cl. — Gout in my hand has prevented my writ- 
ing anything, and adding some trifling particulars to what I 
have written above. In the meantime has arrived the news 
of the capture of Delhi, but though we have received it now 
a week ago we are still unacquainted with the jiarticulars. 
All the advantages of the electric telegi'aph are dearly paid 
for by the agonies of suspense which are caused by the long 
intervals between the arrival of general facts and of their 
particular details. It still remains to be seen whether the 
results of this success turn out on the whole to be as advan- 
tageous as it appears to be brilliant. The Press goes on at- 
tacking Canning with great asperity and injustice, and nobody 
here defends him. Though I am not a very intimate or par- 
ticular friend of his, I think him so unfairly and ungener- 
ously treated that I mean to make an effort to get him such 



384 REIGX OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

redress as tlie case admits of, and tlie only thing which oc- 
curs to me is that Palmerston, as head of the Government, 
shoukt take the opportunity of the Lord Mayor's dinner to 
vindicate him, and assume the responsibility of his acts. His 
*•■ Clemency " proclamation, as it is stupidly and falsely called, 
was, I believe, not only proper and expedient, but necessary, 
and I expect he will be able to vindicate himself completely 
from all the charges which the newspapers have brought 
against him, but in the meantime they will have done him 
all the mischief they can. Among other things Clarendon 
told me at The Grove, he said, in reference to Cimning's war 
against the press, that the license of the Indian press was 
intolerable, not of the native press only, but the English in 
Bengal. Certain papers are conducted there by low, dis- 
affected people, who publish the most gross, false, and malig- 
nant attacks on the Government, which are translated into 
the native languages, and read extensively in the native regi- 
ments, and among the natives generally, and that to put 
down this pest was an absolute necessity. 

November Mh. — I have been speaking to Granville about 
Canning, and urged him to move Palmerston to stand forth 
in his defence at the Lord Mayor's dinner on the 9th. This 
morning he received a very strong and pressing letter from 
Clanricarde, in the same sense in which I had been urging 
him, and a very good letter, and this he is going to send to 
Palmerston. Clanricarde is struck, as I am, with the fact 
that nobody and no newspaper has said a word in Canning's 
favor, and he sees as I have done all the damage which has 
already been done to him by the long and uncontradicted 
course of abuse and reproach with which the press has 
teemed. 

Hatchforcl, November 8f7i. — Granville made a speech in 
defence of Canninsf, at a dinner given at the Mansion House 
to the Duke of Cambridge. He writes me word it was 
''rather nphill work," and I was told it was not very well 
received, but nevertheless it produced an effect, and it acted 
as a check upon the " Times," which without retracting 
(which it never does) has considerably mitigated its violence. 
It was the first word that has been said for Canning in pub- 
lic, and it has evidently been of great use to him. 

The most interesting event during the last few days is 
the failure of the attempted launch of the big ship (now called 
" Leviathan "), and it is not a little remarkable that aU the 



1857.] PALMEKSTON'S SPEECH AT THE MANSION HOUSE. 385 

great experiments recently made have proved failures. Be- 
sides this one of the ship, there was a few weeks ago the 
cracking of the bell (Big Ben) for the Houses of Parliament, 
and not long before that the failure of the submarine tele- 
graph in the attempt to lay it down in the sea. The bell 
will probably be replaced without much difficulty, but it is 
at present doubtful whether it will be found possible to launch 
the ship at all, and whether the telegraphic cable can ever 
be completed. 

November lOtJi. — Palmerston pronounced a glowing eu- 
logium on Canning last night at the Lord Mayor's dinner, 
which will infallibly stop the current of abuse against him. 
It has already turned the " Times." He seems to have been 
induced to do this by the great pressure brought to bear on 
him, for otherwise he had no desire to stand forth and oppose 
public opinion and the press ; but Clarendon, Lansdowne, 
and others all urged him strenuously to support Canning, 
and he did it handsomely enough. His speech in other re- 
spects was an injudicious one, full of Jactance and bow-Avow, 
but well enough calculated to draw cheers from a miscel- 
laneous audience. 

November llih. — I was told yesterday that Palmerston's 
swaggering speech would produce a bad effect in France, and 
those whom I have spoken to agree in thinking it very ill- 
timed and in very bad taste. It is the more objectionable 
because he might have said something very different that 
would have been very becoming and true. He might have 
observed upon the remarkable good taste and forbearance 
which had been so conspicuous in all foreign nations toward 
us, even those who may be supposed to be least friendly to 
us, or those whom we have most outraged by our violent and 
insulting language or conduct. It is at once creditable 
to other countrie^ and honorable to us that no disposition 
has been shown in any quarter to act differently toward us, 
or to avail themselves of what they may suppose to be our 
weakness and difficulty ; but, on the contrary, the same con- 
sideration and deference has been shown to us as if there 
had been no Indian outbreak to absorb our resources. Our 
position in Europe is not only as high as ever, but no one 
shows any disposition to degrade or diminish it ; and while 
this is a gratifying homage to us and a flattering recognition 
oi our power, it is, or at least ouglit to be, calculated to 
inspire us with amicable sentiments, and to be an inducement 
17 



386 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

to US to depart from tlie insolent and offensive tone which 
has so long- prevailed here, and which has made England 
universally an object of aversion. It was of course impos- 
sible that some expressions should not be given here and 
there and now and then to such feelings, but on the whole 
we have no reason to complain, but much the contrary ; not 
even in Russia, whose power and pride we have so deeply 
wounded, and whom we have so outraged by every topic and 
expression of insult and injury which the bitterest hatred 
could suggest, has there been anything like asperity, or any 
rejoicing over our misfortunes. 

Frognal, November IMli. — The news of the capture of 
Delhi and the relief of Lucknow excited a transport of delight 
and triumph, and everybody jumped to the conclusion that 
the Indian contest was virtually at an end. Granville told 
me he thought there would be no more fighting, and that 
the work was done. I was not so sanguine, and though I 
thought the result of the contest was now secure, I thought 
we should still have a great deal on our hands and much 
more fighting to hear of before the curtain could drop. But 
I was not prepared to hear the dismal news which arrived 
to-day, and which has so cruelly damped the public joy and 
exultation. It appears that Havelock is in great danger and 
the long suffering garrison of Lucknow not yet out of their 
peril, for the victory of Havelock had not been complete, the 
natives were gathering round the small British force in vast 
numbers, and unless considerable reinforcements could be 
speedily brought up, the condition of the British, both 
military and civilians, of men, women, and children, would 
soon again be one of excessive danger. 

The Grove, November Ihtli. — I talked with Clarendon about 
the Government letter to the Bank * and the state of financial 
afEairs. It is evident that Clarendon knows very little about 
these questions, and takes very little part in them, but he 

1 [On the 12th of November a letter was addressed to the Governors of the 
Bank of England by Lord Palmerston and Sir George Cornewall Lewis, the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, empowermg the Bank to exceed the lunits pre- 
scribed by tlie Bank Act of 1844 (if necessary) to meet the demands for discount 
and advances on approved secm'ity. This measure was rendered necessary by 
the extensive failures which had recently taken place, and the severe pressure 
on the money market. On the 4rth November discount had advanced to 9 per 
cent. The Issue Department made over to the Banking Department two mill- 
ions in excess of the statutable amount, of which about one million was ad- 
vanced to the public. On the 1st December the whole amount was repaid. 
Parliament was summoned to pass, a Bill of Indemnity, and public confidence 
was restored.] 



1857.] SUSPENSION OF THE BANK ACT. 387 

told me one curious fact. A letter which appeared about a 
week ago, addressed by the Emperor of the French to his 
Finance Minister, made a great sensation here. In it the 
Emperor deprecated all empirical measures for the purpose 
of meeting the prevailing difficulties, financial and commer- 
cial, at Paris. About a week before this Clarendon received 
a letter from Cowley, who said that he had been conversing 
with the Emperor and with Walewski on these matters, and 
Walewski had begged him (by the desire of the EmiDeror) to 
write to Clarendon and request the advice of the English 
Government as to the course he should adopt. Clarendon 
said that George Lewis was out of town, but as there could 
be no delay, he sent his private secretary to the Governor 
and Deputy Governor of the Bank, and requested their ad- 
vice and opinion. They said it was so important they would 
go down to the Foreign Office, which they did, when they 
told Clarendon that their advice was that the Emperor 
should insist on the Bank of France following as nearly as 
possible the example of the Bank of England, to keep their 
rates of discount high, and to avoid all rash experiments of 
any kind. He wrote to Cowley accordingly, who communi- 
cated the answer, and judging from the dates it would ap- 
pear that the Emperor's letter was the consequence of the 
advice so tendered. But Clarendon seemed to think that 
the appearance of the Government letter was rather awk- 
ward, and would appear to the French Government very in- 
consistent with our communication to them. However, it 
will probably be easy to afford satisfactory explanations on 
this head. The measure itself here has apparently had the 
desired success, and they hope the panic and distress will 
gradually subside, without any more mischief happening. 
Lewis thinks that the best mode of dealing with Peel's Act 
will be to retain it, but to give a power to the Queen in 
Council to relax it in^the same manner as has been now twice 
done by the interposition of Government, whenever an urgent 
necessity should arise, and I suppose this is the course that 
will be adopted, though not without a great deal of discus- 
sion and diversity of opinion. I have hitherto said nothing 
about the very curious and important state of affairs in 
America and in this country, because I am too ignorant of 
financial questions to talk alaout them, and I have not been 
apprised of any facts beyond what all the world knows that 
it was worth while to record, but this anecdote of the French 



388 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

Grovernment and our own appears sufficiently curious to have 
a place in this book. 

November 17th. — A council was held yesterday at Wind- 
sor to summon Parliament, where I found the ministers 
much dejected at the news from India. There was a letter 
from Colin Campbell, expressing great alarm at the position 
of Outram and Havelock, whom he thought to be in a great 
scrape, though without any fault of theirs, and there was 
also a report from Sir John Lawrence that affairs were in a 
ticklish state in the Punjaub, and expressing a great anxiety 
for reinforcements, which he had very little prospect of 
getting ; in short the apparently bright sky in which we 
were rejoicing only a few days ago seems to be obscured by 
black clouds, and the great result to be as uncertain as ever. 

I met Clarendon at dinner this evening, when he told me 
that affairs were in a bad state in the City, and that Lewis 
had received very unsatisfactory accounts, so that it is not 
clear that the Government letter is producing the good which 
at first seemed to be following from it. There is a good deal 
of uneasiness in the financial and commercial world and no 
confidence. The very prudence of the trading community 
in arresting the course of production is becoming a source 
of distress, for already vast numbers of people are out of 
employment, or working short time with reduced wages. 
The prices of everything are falling, consumption will be 
diminished, and the revenue must be diminished likewise, 
while our expenses cannot but be increased by the war. 
A general cry is getting up for making India pay for the 
expense of this Indian war, which, even supposing it to be 
just and reasonable, will make the ultimate settlement of the 
Indian question more difficult, and a measure little calcu- 
lated to reconcile the native population to our rule. Then, 
as if we had not embarrassments enough on our hands, 
America is going to add to them, for President Buchanan, 
who hates England with a mortal antipathy, threatens to 
repudiate the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, upon the pretence that 
we have not abided by its conditions, and if he proposes to 
the Senate to declare it null and void, the Senate will do so 
at his bidding. This would be a flagrant violation of good 
faith, and of the obligations by which all civilized nations 
consider themselves bound. If this event happens, it will 
place us in a very perplexing dilemma, especially after 
Palmerston's absurd bravado and confident boastings of our 



1857.] LORD PALMERSTON'S HEALTH. 389 

power, for we are not in a condition to enable us to take a 
high line corresponding with that lofty language, and we shall 
have to eat humble pie and submit to the affront. Hitherto 
all other nations and governments have behaved to us as well 
and as respectfully as we could desire, and far more than we 
deserve ; but if America bullies us in one instance, and we 
are found pocketing the affront, it is by no means improba- 
ble that other governments will begin to take advantage of 
our weakness, and adopt toward us a conduct injurious to 
our interests or a tone galling to our pride. ^ 

November 25fh. — Last week I went to Ampthill from 
Wednesday till Saturday ; on Saturday to The Grove, with 
the Duke of Bedford, the Lewises, Charles Villiers, and Ben 
Stanley. The Duke of Bedford told me he was very uneasy 
about his brother John, who seemed in an irritable frame of 
mind, and disposed to wage war against the Government 
when Parliament meets. ^ He told Sir George Grey the other 
day that they would not find him friendly. Clarendon told 
me of a conversation he had recently had with the Queen 
a. propos of Palmerston's health, concerning which Her Maj- 
esty was very uneasy, and what could be done in the not im- 
possible contingency of his breaking down. It is a curious 
change from what we saw a few years ago, that she is 
become almost affectionately anxious about the health of 
Palmerston, whose death might then have been an event to 
be hailed with satisfaction. Clarendon said she might well 
be solicitous about it, for if anything happened to Palmer- 
ston she would be placed in the greatest difficulty. She said 
that in such a case she should look to him, and expect him 
to replace Palmerston, on which Clarendon said he was glad 
she had broached the subject, as it gave him an opportunity 
of saying what he was very anxious to impress upon her 
mind, and that was the absolute impossibility of his under- 
taking such an office, against which he enumerated various 
objections. He told her that Derby could not form a 
Government, and if she had the misfortune to lose Palmer- 

1 [These apprehensions were unfounded. Mr. Buchanan did not seek to 
abrogate the Chxyton-Bulwer Treaty witli reference to the eventual construction 
of a passage through the Isthmus of Central America, and the neutral character 
of that undertaking, which is now said to be in progress by the Canal of Panama, 
has remained unclianged to the present time.] 

2 [Lord John Russell had taken office in Lord Palmerston's first Administra- 
tion as Colonial Secretary, but he resigned on June 13, 1855, and remained out 
of ofBice. j 



390 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

ston, nothing remained for her to do but to send for John 
Russell and put him at the head of the Government. She 
expressed her great repugnance to this, and especially to 
make him Prime Minister. Clarendon then entreated her 
to conquer her repugnance, and to be persuaded that it 
would never do to offer him anything else, which he neither 
would nor could accept ; that the necessity was to have a 
man who could lead the House of Commons, and there was 
no other but him ; that Lord John had consented to take a 
subordinate office under Lord Aberdeen, who was his senior 
in age, and occupied a high position, but he would never 
consent to take office under him (Clarendon), and the pro- 
posal he would consider as an insult. For every reason, 
therefore, he urged her, if driven to apply to him at all, to 
do it handsomely, to place the whole thing in his hands, and 
to give him her full confidence and support. He appears to 
have convinced her that; this is the proper course, and he 
gave me to understand that if Lord John acts with prudence 
and moderation all the present Government would accept him 
for their head, and Clarendon is so anxious that this should 
be the turn affairs should take, that he urged me to talk to the 
Duke of Bedford about it, and to get him to exert all his in- 
fluence with Lord John to conduct himself in such a man- 
ner as shall conduce to his restoration to office at a future 
time. I had only time to exchange a few words with the 
Duke before we parted the next morning, and we agreed that 
I should write him a letter on the subject which he may 
show to Lord John if he sees fit to do so. I went to Wrotham 
on Monday, and yesterday penned an epistle to be shown to 
Lord John, in which I set forth his position, and dilated on 
the great importance to himself and to the country of his 
conducting himself with j)atience and forbearance, and of 
his abstaining from any such vexatious opposition to the 
Government as might render his future union with them im- 
possible. It remains to be seen whether my remonstrance 
(which I tried to couch in terms that would not be disagree- 
able to Lord John) will produce any effect.^ 

1 [These speculations are curious, but happily the apprehensions caused by 
the supposed state of Lord Palmerston's health were unfounded, for with the 
short interval of the second Derby Government in 1858 and 1859, he continued 
to hold office and to discharge the duties of Prime Minister with his accustomed 
vigor and success until his death in October, 1865, when he was succeeded by 
Lord Eussell. At this particular moment (1857) the latent danger of the Gov- 
ernment lay, not in the failing health of Lord Palmerston, but in an unforseen 



185Y.] EXAGGERATED REPORTS FROM INDIA. 391 

HitcJiinhrooh, November 2Sth. — I came here to-day from 
Riddlcsworth, where I haye now been for the first time for 
twenty years. I received there two letters from the Duke of 
Bedford, the first telling me he should show, and the second 
that he had shown, my letter to Lord John. He received it 
graciously, saying he agreed with almost all I said, but that 
it was easier to give than it was to take such advice, and 
that he had been blamed by certain persons for not having 
given more opposition to the Government last year on some 
questions than he had done, especially to the Persian War ; 
but I rather infer on the whole that my letter made some 
impression on him, though it remains to be seen how much. 

The last news from India is as good as could be expected, 
and the current there has evidently turned. I met Martin 
Smith (Indian Director) at Eiddlesworth, and had much 
talk with him about Indian affairs. It is clear that the Com- 
pany do not mean to submit to be summarily extinguished 
without a struggle. He told me that with regard to the 
great subject, the sending out troops by sailing vessels in- 
stead of by steamers, which is made matter of bitter reproach 
against the Directors, the fault lay entirely with the Govern- 
ment. The Directors wanted to send 10,000 men across 
Egypt, and the Government would not do it. They pro- 
posed it formally to the Board of Control, who referred it to 
the Foreign Office, and Clarendon said it could not be done 
on account of certain political considerations which rendered 
it inexpedient, so that if the Directors could have had their 
own way the thing would have been done. There may have 
been good grounds for the refusal of the Government, but in 
this instance the double Government was productive only of 
a sacrifice of Indian to Imperial interests, and it will not be 
easy to draw from this transaction any argument in favor of 
abolishing the East India Company and the Leadenhali 
Street Administration. 

Londoti, December 2d. — Yesterday morning Lord Sydney 
received a letter from Lady Canning, who said that although 
undoubtedly many horrible things had happened in India, 
the exaggeration of them had been very great, and that she 
had read for the first time in the English newspapers stories 
of atrocities of which she had never heard at Calcutta, and 

occurrence which caused the unexpected defeat of Lord Palmerston's Ministry 
■within four months of this date, and the accession of Lord Derby and his friends 
to office.] 



393 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. 

that statements made in India had turned out to be pure in- 
ventions and falsehoods. Yet our papers publish everything 
that is sent to them without caring whether it may be true 
or false, and the credulous public swallow it all without the 
slightest hesitation and doubt. Shaftesbury too, who is a 
prodigious authority with the public, and who has all the 
religious and pseudo-religious people at his back, does his 
utmost to make the case out to be as bad as possible and to 
excite the rage and indignation of the masses to the highest 
pitch. He is not satisfied with the revolting details with 
which the Press has been teeming, but complains that more 
of them have not been detailed and described, and that the 
particulars of mutilation and violation have not been more 
copiously and circumstantially given to the world. I have 
never been able to comprehend what his motives are for talk- 
ing in this strange and extravagant strain, but it is no doubt 
something connected with the grand plan of Christianizing 
India, in the furtherance of which the High Church and the 
Low Church appear to be bidding against each other ; and 
as their united force will in all probability be irresistible, so 
they will succeed in making any Covernment in India im- 
possible. 

B showed me the Draft of the Queen's Speech this 

evening after dinner. Cobbett in his Grammar produces 
examples of bad English taken from Kings' Speeches, which 
he says might be expected to be the best written, but gener- 
ally are the worst written documents in the world. It would 
be difficult to produce any former Speech more deplorably 
composed than this one. Long sentences, full of confusion, 
and of which the meaning is not always clear, and some 
faults of grammar for which a schoolboy would be whipped. 

B was so struck by one I pointed out that he said he 

would beg Palmerston to alter it. If this Speech escapes 
severe criticism and ridicule I shall be much surprised, as I 
am already that George Lewis, who has so lately been a liter- 
ary critic, and is a correct writer himself, should have al- 
lowed it to pass in its present shape, and indeed the sentence 
he himself jmt in about his own business is as bad as any 
other part of it. 

I have no idea what they mean to propose about the Bank 
Charter Act, but if it be what Lewis told me some time ago, 
to give the Queen the power of suspending the Act by Order 
in Council, I much doubt if they will carry such a proposal. 



1857.] OPENING OF THE SESSION. 393 

and it appears to me on reflection thoroughly unconstitu- 
tional, and as such I expect it will be vehemently attacked 
by all the opponents and the quasi-opponents of Government, 
and indeed by all except those who are prepared to follow 
Palmerston with blind submission, and to vote for anything 
rather than allow him to be put in jeopardy. John Russell, 
for instance, would hardly be able to resist the temptation of 
falling foul of such a proposal, though he would approve of 
their having followed a precedent wliich he had himself set 
in a case somewhat similar, though in some respects less 
urgent. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Opening of tbe Session — Prevailing- Distress — Lord John reconciled — Ministerial Specula- 
tions — Contemplated Transfer of India to the Crown — Military Position in India — Con- 
versation with Mr. Disraeli — Bill for the Dissolution of the East India Company — ])iffl- 
culties of Parliamentary lieform — The Relief of Lucknow — Lord Norman by's "• Year of 
Revolution " — Bruug-ham's Jealousy of Lord Cockburn — Refutation of Lord Norman- 
by's Book — The Crown Jewels of Hanover — Labor in the French Colonies — The Death 
of General Havelock — Gloomy Prospects in India — Inadequate Measures for the ReHef 
of India— Lord John Russell hostile to Government— Death of the Duke of Devon.'shire 
— Mr. Disraeli suggests a Fusion of Parties— Marriage of the Princess Royal — Weakness 
of the Government — Excitement in France against this Country— Petition of the East 
India Company — Drowsiness of Ministers^Decline of Lord Paimerston's Popularity — 
Effect of the Orsini Attempt on the Emperor Napoleon. — Opposition to the (Conspiracy 
Bill — Review of the Crisi.s — Lord Derby sent for by the Queen— Refusal of the Peel- 
ites — The Catastrophe unexpected — The Defeat might have been avoided — Misman- 
agement of the Affair— Ministers determined to resign. 

London, December Uh, 1857. — Pari lament opened yester- 
day, very quietly, and at present a quiet session seems prob- 
able, but such appearances are often fallacious. The most 
alarming consideration is the j)robability of a very hard and 
hungry winter for the working classes, vast numbers of people 
being already out of employment. I met Sir James Shuttle- 
worth yesterday, who knows a great deal about Lancashire, 
where he lives, and he told me that though the distress 
was considerable and threatening to increase, the conduct 
of the people was admirable. There was no disaifection or 
bad feeling toward the upper classes and employers ; they 
semed to have greatly improved in good -sense and reflection, 
and were satisfied of the sympathy felt for them, and the 
disposition entertained by tlie rich to do all in their power 
to alleviate the distress of the poor. And he stated (what 
seemed to me a curious fact) Chat they preferred that the 



394 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

time of working should be shortened, or even mills closed, 
rather than a general reduction in the rate of wages. This 
moral condition of the laboring classes is a most satisfactory 
sign of the times. 

The Duke of Bedford has just been here, and tells me 
Lord John is in a better frame of mind, and has already done 
two sensible things. He has given notice to some of his 
supporters that he will have nothing to do with the organi- 
sation of any party, and he has responded to an invitation of 
Vernon Smith's by a promise to impart to him his opinion 
and advice upon Indian affairs, and the best mode of pro- 
viding for the future government of that country. 

December 6th. — John Eussell has begun well in the House 
of Commons and si sic omnia he will put himself in a good 
position, but it is impossible to rely upon him. At present 
his disposition to the G-overnment' appears friendly. I had 
a conversation about him and his future relations with 

the Government last night with B . I infer from what 

dropped from him that he thinks the probability of Palm- 
erston's breaking down is not a remote and unlikely one. I 
do not think he considers him broken in health, but that he 
thinks the strength of his intellect is impaired, and that he 
begins to show signs of decay to those who have the means of 
observing them. He particularly noticed the failure of his 
memory, and he said, what I have no doubt is true, that he 
will never be himself conscious, still less acknowledge, that 
his faculties are less vigorous and active than they were. 
What the nature and amount of the decay in him is I know 
not, and they will not say, but from the uneasy feeling, and 
these speculations as to future contingencies among his col- 
leagues, I am sure they are prepared for something. B 

said if the case occurred there were only two men who could 
be Minister, Derby or Clarendon, and he fancies that John 
Eussell might be induced to take office under Clarendon, and 
he does not believe that Clarendon really means what he says 
when he expresses his extreme reluctance to take the post, 
or that he would not in reality prefer it even to the Foreign 
Office. He treats his scruples as a sort of nolo episcopari, in 
which I think he is partially, but not entirely, right. There 
can be no doubt that in the present state of affairs it is much 
to be desired that Palmerston should be able to go on. I 
was amused by a trifling incident, so very Palmerstonian, 
told me the other day. I have already alluded to the bad 



1857.] CONTEMPLATED TRANSFER OF INDIA. 395 

writing in the Queen's Speech, and it seems one phrase was 
criticised and altered in the Cabinet, but when he got back 
to his office he altered the alteration, and made it as it was 
before. I am not sure that the alteration was not the one 

suggested by B upon the strength of my criticism, and 

that Palmerston declined to alter the passage. 

December 1th. — I called on Lord Grey in the morning and 
dined with Lyndhurst in the evening, and had much talk with 
both of them about the pending questions, Reform, India, 
Bank Act. Lord Grey is bringing out a book upon Reform. 
Lyndhurst is decidedly against any strong and subversive 
measure about India, and is for improving and not ui:)setting 
the present system. Public opinion, led by the Press, has 
hitherto leant to the dissolution of the Company and the 
Directorial Government ; but as time advances and the ex- 
treme difficulty of concocting another system becomes appar- 
ent, people begin to dread the idea of destroying an ancient 
system without any certainty of a better one replacing it, 
and I think there is a general feeling of alarm at the notion 
of the Indian Empire being placed under the direction of 
such a man as Vernon Smith ; more, indeed, than is quite 
just and called for, as his talents, though of a second-rate 
calibre, are not so low as is supposed, and he is not the 
cipher in his office he is thought to be, but is well enough 
acquainted with all its details, and always able to explain 
everything to the Cabinet clearly and correctly. But these 
merits, which are those of a diligent clerk, are far from 
being sufficient to qualify him for liaving the direction of an 
office which circumstances have rendered by far the most 
imjiortant and difficult in the whole Government. Till re- 
cently the Board of Control has been looked upon as a very 
subordinate department, and one of mere routine, which 
anybody might fill. I remember when John Russell offered 
it to Graham some years ago, he treated the proposal as an 
insult. 

December 8i7i. — I went to the House of Lords last night 
and heard for the first time Ellenborough s^^eak — an admi- 
rable style of speaking. It was a good night for Canning. 
The "Times" has turned right round and defends him, 
finding the Government are in earnest in doing so. The 
account of Lucknow Just come by telegram is very alarm- 
ing, and keeps one in a state of nervous excitement, difficult 
to describe. 



396 REIGN or QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

London, December lltli. — Though the last advices from 
India were satisfactory as far as they went, it is generally 
understood that the next mail must bring the account of a 
bloody battle at or near Lucknow, in which, though no one 
doubts that the British will be victorious, it is certain that 
there will be great loss of life. Sanguine people and the 
Press with hardly any exception, imagine that this antici- 
pated victory will terminate the contest and leave only some 
straggling conflicts to go on for a short time longer, ending 
by a speedy suppression of the rebellion. In this expectation 
I do not share, but, on the contrary, believe it will be a pro- 
tracted affair, not indeed doubtful in its ultimate result, but 
which will cost us much time and money and many men, for 
all who know anything of the matter tell us that the wear 
and tear in India is enormous, and that a continual stream 
of reinforcements must be poured into the country to keep 
the army in a state of efficiency. Captain Lowe, lately aide- 
de-camp to poor George Anson, and who was in the storm 
of Delhi, an intelligent officer, confirms all these notions, 
and he says that nothing can be more inexpedient than the 
scheme proi3ounded here with great confidence, of forming 
the native force, on which we are hereafter to rely, of Sikhs 
instead of Hindoos. He says that inasmuch as they are very 
brave and excellent soldiers, it would only be to place our- 
selves in a state of far greater danger and uncertainty, for 
though the Sikhs have proved very faithful to us, and ren- 
dered excellent service, it is impossible to predict how long 
this humor may last, and whether circumstances may not 
arise to induce them to throw off our yoke and assert their 
own independence. It is marvellous and providential that 
on this occasion the Sikhs were disposed to side with us in- 
stead of against us, for if they had taken the latter course, it 
would have been all up and nothing could have saved us. 
Apropos of this consideration he told me a curious anecdote. 
A Sikh was talking to a British officer in a very friendly way, 
and he said, *' Don't you think it very strange that we, who 
were so recently fighting against you, should be now fighting 
with you ? And should you be very much surprised if a 
year or two hence you should see us fighting against you 
again ?" 

Disraeli called on me a day or two ago, when we had a 
political chat. He talked with much contempt of the present 
Government, except of George Lewis, of whom he spoke in 



1857'] CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE LEWIS. 397 

the highest terms. He said Palmerstou's popularity was of 
a negative character, and, rather more from the. unpopularity 
of every other public man than from any peculiar attach- 
ment to him ; he talked bitterly of Derby's having declined 
to take the Government in 1855, which he seemed to con- 
sider as an irreparable blow to his party. He is evidently 
not without hopes that the Government may find themselves 
in some inextricable difficulty about their lieform Bill, and 
thinks they will be incapable of concocting an India Bill 
which will go down with the country. He does not appear 
to have made up his mind what course to take on the Indian 
question, and it is evident that at present the Tory party 
have decided on nothing. The Cabinet has committed the 
scheme of Reform to a select number of its members, as was 
done in 1830, but what they are doing about India I do not 
know. There is certainly a difference of opinion amongst 
them, as there no doubt is about Reform, but as little doubt 
that they are all agreed upon not letting their conflicting 
opinions break up the Government. 

December 'ilst. — I called on George Lewis the day before 
yesterday and had a long talk with him. He told me that 
Palmerston had given notice to the Chairs tliat the Govern- 
ment had come to the resolution of bringing in a Bill to put 
an end to their dominion, and that the plan was to have an 
Indian Secretary of State with a Council, and the Council to 
have the distribution of the patronage. I was surprised to 
hear him say that he saw no difficulty in the settlement of 
the Indian question, either in passing it through Parliament 
or in producing a good measure which would work better 
than the present system, and he said he wished the other 
great question they had upon their hands, that of Reform, 
was as easy, but that tlie more they went into it, the more 
difficult it appeared. I need not enter into the details 
which we discussed, as the Bill is not yet settled, and in a 
few weeks more it will come forth. He said that the great 
misfortune was their having thrown out Locke King's motion 
this year, for if they had done what they had originally 
intended with regard to it, they should in all probability 
have laid the question at rest for ten years longer at least, 
and he then told me a curious anecdote on this matter, 
giving an example of strange levity and incapacity on the part 
of the Government. When Locke King brought forward 
his motion, it was considered in the Cabinet, and they came 



398 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

to a unanimous resolution to let his bill be read a second 
time, but to oppose the amount of his franchise in Committee 
and raise it from 10/. to 20Z., which they had no doubt they 
should carry. On the very night on which the question was 
to be moved Lewis went down to the House of Commons 
with this understanding, never dreaming that any alteration 
was contemplated, when George Grey said to him, " You 
know Palmerston is going to oppose Locke King's motion " 
(for leave to bring in his Bill). Lewis expressed his sur- 
prise, and asked what had happened to set aside the unani- 
mous agreement come to in the Cabinet. Grey said there 
had been a dinner at Charles Wood's, at which certain 
Ministers were present (whom he named, but I forget if 
Palmerston was one), when the question had been discussed, 
and the result had been to make a change in their opinions, 
and Palmerston had agreed that Locke King should be 
opposed ill limine. This Lewis told me he regarded as a 
fatal error, to which they owed the dilemma in which they 
found themselves placed. But what struck me most was the 
mode of doing business of such importance, and that there 
should not be found a single individual to protest against 
it, and to resign his office rather than to submit to be so 
dragged through the mire ; but the present doctrine seems 
to be that Palmerston^ s Government must be held together at 
any price, and this is the more curious when it is obvious to 
me that his colleagues, while conscious of the dijEficulty of 
doing without him, have an exceedingly mean opinion of his 
intrinsic value. I told Lewis all that Disraeli had said to 
me about him as well as about Palmerston, when he ex- 
pressed his surprise at the manner in which Disraeli had 
spoken of Mm, for which he was not at all prepared, but said 
he estimated Palmerston at Ms real worth. He told me of 
Harrowby's resignation on account of his health, and that 
his place had been offered to Clanricarde, and wanted to 
know if I thought Clanricarde would be objected to.^ We 
talked of the stories which John Eussell had heard of, about 
our being on bad terms with France, and the Emperor 
Napoleon out of humor with us, and of Palmerston's medi- 
tating hostile designs against Eussia, all of which he said 
were pure fabrications, as we were on the best terms with 

» [The Earl of Harrowby held the oflRce of Lord Privy Seal. He was suc- 
ceeded by the Marquis of Clanricarde, which proved a very unpopular appoint- 
ment.] 



1857.] LORD NORMANBY'S BOOK. 399 

France, and Palmerston entertained no hostile designs against 
Eussia or any other Power. We both agreed that our hands 
were too full to think of any fresh quarrels or aggressions, 
and I found him of the same opinion as myself about our 
arbitrary and dictatorial system, and of the mischief it had 
done, and as much with reference to the slave trade as any 
other question. 

I told him of the slave case just decided in the Judicial 
Committee of the Privy Council, and of the sum of money it 
would cost our Government, to say nothing of the mortifica- 
,tion. He said no doubt Palmerston would proclaim it to be 
a wrong decision, and would defend the Foreign Office and 
all the agents who had been concerned in the outrage.^ 

Hatchford, December 26ih. — Christmas Day, usually com- 
ing in frost and snow, was yesterday like a fine day in May, 
the glorious weather being in unison with the general glad- 
ness at the good news from India and the tidings that Luck- 
now, with its wounded and its long suffering band of women 
and children, had been relieved at last, and for good and all. 
This news arrived on Christmas Eve, to make the day itself 
as merry as it is proverbially said to be. 

Brougham has taken Normanby's book, ''A Year of Eevo- 
lution," under his protection, for what reason nobody can 
divine. He wrote to Mrs. Austin, begging she would exert 
her influence with her nephew Peeve to get it noticed fiivora- 
bly in the " Edinburgh Review," that it was a good book, had 
the merit of being true, and that it was much approved by 
Louis Napoleon, who had encouraged its being translated. I 
had imagined Brougham was improved, but it is evident from 
his conduct on this occasion that he is the same man he ever 
was. The book contains page after page of matter the most 
offensive to Guizot and to Louis Philippe and his family, 
with which everybody is revolted, and its malice is not 
redeemed by literary merit or attractiveness in any shape. 

1 [This refers to the case of the " Newport," a vessel -which had been con- 
demned by the Vice- Admiralty Oonrt at St. Helena for alleged trading in slavcs,_ 
together with penalties to the amount of 13,OO0Z. on the shippers and owners of 
the cargo. TJie Lords ot the Judicial Committee reversecl this sentence with 
costs and damages, and declared that the owners of the ship must look to the 
Government for their indemnity. They added that " merchants who, having 
engaged only in a lawful adventure, have been subjected to an unjust and illegal 
sentence, are entitled to bo indemnified against its consequences, and against 
the costs which they have incurred in obtaining its reversal, in relieving thcra- 
selves from the heavy pecuniary loss which it inflicted, and from the deep stain 
which it east upon their characters, and that the national honor must be vindi- 
cated at the national expense."] 



400 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

That Brougham should take up such a production is as 
unaccountable as it is indecent, for he affected to be ex- 
ceedingly attached to the Orleans royalties, to be on very 
intimate terms with the King, and he treated Guizot with a 
familiarity quite at variance with good taste and propriety, 
and which had excited the astonishment, with no small 
disgust, of Guizot himself. It might have been expected that 
he would have resented such a production as Normanby's, 
instead of patronizing it. He told Mrs. Austin he could not 
himself speak to Reeve about it, since he had made the 
"Edinburgh Eeview" the vehicle of a personal attack upon^ 
himself. What he alluded to was, that when Lord Cock- ' 
burn's life was published an article (anonymous of course) 
appeared in the ''Law Magazine" in which Lord Cockburn 
was very ill-used, and another in reply to this, and in vindi- 
cation of Lord Cockburn, but without a word against Brough- 
am, appeared in the "Edinburgh." This was what he called 
a personal attack upon himself. He was the author of the 
paper in the " Law Magazine," but the writer in the "Edin- 
burgh " had no right to assume this, or to know anything 
about it, though as a matter of fact he did know, or at least 
had good reason to suspect, that it was penned by Brougham. 
It had already been settled that the "Edinburgh Keview" 
should take no notice whatever of " The Year of Eevolu- 
tion," and Mrs. Austin having sent Brougham's letter to 
Eeeve, Eeeve answered it himself, utterly denying that he 
had made or intended to make any attack upon him, and 
telling him in plain terms what the general opinion is of 
Normanby's book. 

Meanwhile Guizot writes to Eeeve that the book is full of 
lies, and not worth notice ; that he will take none of what 
concerns himself alone, but cannot leave uncontradicted 
such parts of it as relate to the King, and give utterly false 
statements of the relations between the King and himself. 
He then refers to various passages which he says are all false, 
and desires Eeeve to show his letter to Lord Lansdowne, 
Granville, and me, and to anybody else he thinks fit. All 
this will contribute to bring Normanby into a very unpleas- 
ant dilemma about this ill-advised book, and it must be said 
that it is all Clarendon's fault for his weakness and good 
nature in abstaining from renewing his prohibition, and when 
Normanby was here giving a sort of tacit consent to its ap- 
pearance, although that was accompanied with a strong ex- 



185V.] THE CROWN JEWELS OF DANOVER. 401 

pression of opinion that it ought to be suppressed. And 
now a report has got about that before the book came out 
Clarendon read and approved of it, which I requested Mrs. 
Austin to deny in the most peremptory manner, for it was 
to her that this assertion had been made.^ 

December 29th. — The long-pending dispute about the 
Crown jewels claimed by the King of Hanover was settled 
the other day. The history of it is this. The late King of 
Hanover on the death of William IV. claimed these jewels 
upon the ground that they were partly belonging to the 
Crown of Hanover and partly had been bequeathed to him 
by Queen Charlotte. Our Government, on behalf of the 
Queen, naturally resisted the claim. After a good deal of 
wrangling they were at last prevailed on to name a com- 
mission to investigate the question, and Lord Lyndhurst, 
Lord Langdale, and Chief Justice Tindal were appointed 
accordingly. After a considerable delay and a troublesome 
inquiry, they arrived at a conclusion, but when they were 
just about to give their award Chief Justice Tindal died. 
Lyndhurst and Langdale were divided in opinion, so no 
award could be given. The Chancellor, Lord Cottenham, 
refused to renew the Commission, and the matter has stood 
over ever since. In the present year, however, the Govern- 
ment thought the matter ought to be decided one way or 
another, and they issued a fresh Commission, consisting of 
Lord Wensleydale, Vice-Chancellor Page Wood, and Sir 
Lawrence Peel (ex-Indian judge), and they have given 
judgment unanimously in favor of the King of Hanover, 
i. e., with regard to the bulk of the jewels, some few seem 
to have been allotted to the Queen. Lord Wensleydale 
came into my room at the Council Office just after they had 
finished their award, and told me about it. I asked him if 
they had decided it on evidence or only by a sort of rough 
estimate, but he said they had ample evidence, and they 
were all quite satisfied upon the point. Last night I asked 

> [Lord Normanby had written this narrative of tlie events of 1847 to 1848 
while lie was Ambassador in Paris, and he proposed to publish it at an earlier 
period when he was still in office. But upon this comintf to the knowledge of 
the Forcim Office, Lord Clarendon (without having read the work) intimated 
to Lord Normanby that he could not allow a diplomatic servant of the Crowa 
of the first rank to publish a polemical narrative of transactions in which he had 
been engaged, at any rate while he held office. The book therefore was sup- 
pressed for some years. But when Lord Normanby had quitted office, he felt 
at liberty to disregard Lord Clarendon's injunction, and the book was published, . 
to the great detriment of his own reputation.] 



403 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

Lord Lyndhurst about his share in the question, when he 
told me their difficulty had been to make out whether the 
jewels which Queen Charlotte had disposed of by her will 
had really been hers to leave, or whether she had only had 
the use of them, but that this had been decided by the dis- 
covery of George III.'s will, in which he expressly left them 
to her. Tindal entirely agreed with Lyndhurst, and if he 
had lived a little longer, judgment would have been given 
then in favor of Hanover. Lyndhurst said the Court was 
very anxious about it, for Prince Albert had told him the 
pearls were the finest in Europe. The value of them has 
been enormously exaggerated, but is still considerable. Lord 
Lyndhurst said they were worth about £150,000, and Kiel- 
mansegge told me the same thing. 

By the Indian papers just arrived it appears that the 
relief of the Eesidency of Lucknow and the deliverance of 
all who were confined in it was complete, but there was no 
great battle (which everybody expected), though much severe 
fighting, and Lucknow itself was still untaken. The mu- 
tineers, though always worsted, seem to fight better than 
they were thought capable of doing, and everything tends 
to show that the suppression of the Mutiny is still far from 
being accomplished. 

December Z\st. — I met Clarendon last night, who talked 
about the Hanoverian jewel question ; he said the Queen was 
very anxious to know Lord Lyndhurst's opinion upon the 
award, so last night I went to his house and asked him, tell- 
ing him the reason why. He said he had no doubt the award 
was correct ; that in their case the jewels were divided into 
two categories : first, those which came from George II. and 
were undoubtedly Hanoverian ; and secondly, those which 
George III. had given Queen Charlotte. They had heard 
counsel on both sides, but neither side chose to produce the 
will of George III., which they never had before them, so 
they were in a difficulty about these latter stones. Tindal 
died the day they were to have met to draw up an award. 
He and Lyndhurst were agreed, Langdale doubted. Lynd- 
hurst said he had no doubt if they had had King George 
III.'s will, which Wensleydale and his colleagues had before 
them, they should all three have agreed, and to the same 
award. 

Clarendon complained of the recent pro-slavery articles 
in the "Times," and told Delane they were calculated to 



1858.] THE DEATH OF GENERAL HAVELOCK. 403 

encourage the French in holding to their African operations. 
The French Government had told us that they must have 
labor, but they did not care if it was black or brown, and if 
we would undertake to find coolies for them in the same way 
as Mauritius is supplied, they would give up their scheme. 
Clarendon said this was fair enough, but it did not get rid of 
the difficulty, because it was impossible to get the coolies in 
sufficient numbers, and that our own Colonies, which were 
perishing for want of labor, would complain loudly, and not 
unjustly, if we brought the French into competition with 
them, thus enhancing the difficulty and the cost of supply to 
themselves. The probability then is that the French will go 
on, and that all other nations who have the same wants will 
follow their example, and we shall be reinvolved in endless 
remonstrances and squabbles under very disadvantageous 
circumstances. 

January 1st, 1858. — It is worth noticing that after a year 
of fine weather, of which nobody can recollect the like, this 
first day of the New Year has opened like one of a genial 
spring. This nearly unbroken course of wonderful weather 
for about nine or ten months gives rise to many speculations 
as to its cause, and no doubt there is some physical cause, 
although it has not yet been ascertained. 

January 5th. — To-day the winter seems to have set in in 
earnest. 

January '^tli. — Not many days ago the *' Times" con- 
cluded an article on the Indian war in these words (it was 
after describing the relief of the Residence at Lucknow by 
Sir Colin Campbell): "thus ends the Indian Mutiny of 
1857 ; " and to-day we have the news of Wyndham having 
been defeated by the Gwalior Force ; of Sir Colin having 
been obliged to quit Lucknow, without having captured it, 
in order to repair this check (which he seems to have done 
very effectually) and deplorable event ; of the death of Have- 
lock, the hero of this war, who, after escaping unhurt 
through battle after battle, has succumbed to disease, not 
having lived long enough to know all that is said of him and 
all that has been done for him here. It is impossible not to 
feel the loss of this man as if he belonged to one individ- 
ually, so deep is the interest which his gallantry and his 
brilliant career have excited in every heart. 

Every account we receive only confirms the impression 
that this war will be a long and difficult affair, and if we are 



404 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

able by our military successes to put down all opposition and 
suppress the mutiny thoroughly, we shall have a still more 
difficult task to re-establish order and a quiet and regular 
government in the country, and this difficulty promises to 
be enormously increased by all that is passing here on the 
subject. Shaftesbury is stirring up all the fanaticism of the 
country, and clamoring for what he calls the emancipation 
of Christianity in India, and even the '* Times," once cele- 
brated for its strong sound sense and its fearless independ- 
ence, is afraid to rebuke this nonsense, and endorses it by 
saying "we have committed great errors," but without ex- 
plaining what it means, or giving any exemplification of the 
assertion. The real meaning, however, of the Exeter Hall 
clamor is, that we should commence as soon as we can a 
crusade against the religions of the natives of India, and at- 
tempt to force Christianity upon them. I begin to have 
the most dismal forebodings upon this Indian question. I 
continue indeed to believe that by dint of enormous exer- 
tions, by a vast expenditure of money, and sending out every 
man we can raise and make a soldier of, we shall sooner or 
later conquer the mutineers and suppress the rebellion, but 
I expect we shall lose our Indian Empire. I may possibly 
not live to see the catastrophe, but those who are twenty or 
may be ten years younger than I am in all probability will. 
All our legislation is conducting us to this end. We are 
taking this moment of war and confusion to revolutionize 
our Indian Empire and government, to root up all that the 
natives have been accustomed to regard with veneration, 
and to pronounce sentence of condemnation upon the only 
authority of which they know anything, and which has been 
the object of their fears and hopes, and sometimes of their 
attachment. The Grovernment is about to hurry into this 
measure as if the existing system had been the cause of the 
present rebellion and conflict, and that the one they propose 
to substitute would be so much better and capable of repair- 
ing the mischief which the government of the Comjjany has 
caused by its alleged mismanagement. I have no prejudice 
or partiality for the Company, but I believe any great 
change at this moment to be fraught with danger, and that 
the notion of improving the state of affairs by the abolition 
of what is called the double government is a mere delusion.'' 

1 [The experience of nearly thirty years has proved that these gloomy fore- 
bodings were unfounded. The Government and the condition of the Indian 



1858.] GLOOMY PROSPECTS IN INDIA. 405 

January l(Sth. — I went to The Grange on Tuesday and 
returned yesterday morning, when I was met by the news of 
an attempted assassination of the Emperor Napoleon, whose 
escape seems to have been providential. 

It is since I last wrote anything here that we have re- 
ceived the news from India of Wyndham's defeat at Cawn- 
pore, and of Sir Colin's subsequent victory, but we are not 
yet informed of the details so as to be able to pass a judg- 
ment on these events, and upon Wyndham's conduct. It 
may be doubted, however, whether the small defeat in the 
one case is not more prejudicial than the considerable vic- 
tory in the other is advantageous ; and the inference to be 
derived from the whole is to my mind of a gloomy character, 
for I think unless we can manage to pour into India an un- 
ceasing stream of fresh troops for an indefinite period, we 
shall succumb in the contest by the mere weight of numbers, 
and the question is, whether we shall be able to do this, which 
seems to me exceedingly doubtful. The Government appear 
never to have been sufficiently alive to the danger and the 
difficulties of this warfare, and have contented themselves 
with going on leisurely and lazily, preparing reinforcements 
to be sent out from time to time, but have never thought it 
incumbent on them to make the extraordinary efforts that 
the case imperatively demands. 

When Parliament meets I shall be surprised if there is 
not before long a great storm in both Houses, and if Palm- 
erston means to rest upon his popularity, and to endeavor 
to conjure it by his habitual ofihand manner and assurances 
that they have done all they could, expecting that such 
assurances will be accepted as a matter of course, I think 
he will be greatly mistaken. In spite of all that has been 
said to John Eussell, and his not unfriendly disposition 
during the short autumnal session, his patience and prudence 
are evidently well-nigh exhausted, and we may soon expect to 
see him in vehement opposition. He writes to his brother 
that "he is appalled at the part he may be obliged to take 
in the coming session," and he seems to be under the in- 
Empire have undergone enormous changes in that interval of time, but upon 
the whole the suppression of the militai-y revolt of 1857 lias placed British au- 
thority in India upon a more secure basis, the loyalty of the native princes to 
tlie Crown has increased, the native population is more enlightened and more 
prosperous, and the dangers which may still threaten the British Empire in In- 
dia are not those which struck the mind of Mr. (ireville in 1858. lie himself, 
however, soon changed his opinion. See entry of the 12th March, infra.] 



406 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

fluence of a fresh feeling of antipatliy to Palmerston. It is 
not unlikely that he thinks it not worth his while to wait 
for the chance of Palmerston's being withdrawn from the 
field, and that he may as well gratify his inclination by 
going into Opposition, and it is likely enough that he fancies 
he has more influence in the House of Commons and the 
country than he really possesses, and may collect a party of 
his own, instead of being grudgingly accepted by the present 
Government as a matter of necessity, rather than one of 
choice. If this is his view, I believe he is egregiously 
mistaken. Lowe, whom I met at The Grange, and who 
knows something of both Parliamentary and public opinion, 
told me that John Russell would find no support in the 
House of Commons where his influence was extinct, and that 
so far from forming a party of his own, he did not believe if 
Palmerston were to die to-morrow, and Lord John take his 
place at the head of the Government, that the Government 
itself would stand. 

Wobicrn Abhey, January IWi. — Yesterday morning we 
were astounded by the receipt of a telegraphic message 
informing Granville that the Duke of Devonshire had been 
found dead in his bed.^ Nothing could be more sudden and 
unexpected, and the immediate cause of his death is not 
known. At different periods of my life I have lived in great 
intimacy with him, but he was capricious, so the intervals 
were long and frequent during which we were almost 
strangers to each other. Spoiled by his mother as a boy, 
and becoming Duke of Devonshire with a colossal fortune 
at twenty-one years old, and besides afflicted with incurable 
deafness, his existence was manque, and he was a disap- 
j)ointed and unhappy man. His abilities were of a very high 
order, and if he had not been relieved by his position and 
wealth from the necessity of exertion and disqualified by his 
infirmities from taking an active part in public life, he might 
have been a considerable and important as well as a far hap- 
pier man ; but as he had unfortunately no positive tastes or 
active pursuits, no domestic ties to engage his affections, and 
no public duties to occupy his mind, he was reduced to fill 
up the vacuum of his existence by capricious engouements 

• [William Spencer, sixtli Duke of Devonshire, born May 21, 1790, died Janu- 
ary 17, 1858. He was Mr. Greville's second cousin, the Duchess of Portland, 
mother of Lady Charlotte Greville, havinj^ been the daughter of the fourth Duke 
of Devonshii-e.] 



1S58.] DISR^\JELr3 OVERTURE TO THE WHIGS. 407 

and frivolous society. He was very clever and very comical, 
with a keen sense of humor, frequently very droll with his 
intimate friends, and his letters were always very amusing. 
The Duke lived very much like a grand seigneur, hospitable 
and magnificent ; he was very fond of his family, and very 
kind to them, as he was also to those of his friends whom 
he took into favor, many of the poorer of whom will have 
great reason to regret the loss of a benefactor. There was 
for a long time a vague notion that some mystery attached 
to his birth, and that he was not really the son, or at all 
events not the legitimate son, of his reputed father. The idea 
was that Lady Elizabeth Foster (whom the Duke afterward 
married as his second wife) and the Duchesse had been con- 
fined at the same time at Paris, and that the latter having a 
girl and the former a boy, the children had been changed, 
the Duke being the father of both children, I always 
treated the story as a myth, and this opinion has been con- 
firmed by the deposition of the woman who had received 
the child in her arms upon his birth, which was conclusive 
evidence of his legitimacy. It is remarkable that the whole 
of the vast property of the late Duke was in his own power. 
The entail was cut off upon his majority, and his father died 
before the estates were resettled. 

January 20th. — The more I hear from India and about 
Indian affairs, and the more I read and reflect upon the sub- 
ject, the more desponding I become as to our future pros- 
pects there ; first, as to our means of bringing the war to a 
successful issue, and secondly, as to our power to govern the 
country and keep it quiet and contented when the first ob- 
ject has been accomplished. 

January 'Z3d. — On arriving in town yesterday, I received 
a visit from Disraeli, who said he had come to consult me in 
confidence, and to ask my opinion, by which his own course 
would be very much influenced. I was not a little surprised 
at this exordium, but told him I should be glad to hear what 
his object was, and that he was welcome to any opinion he 
wished for from me. He then began a rather hazy discourse, 
from which I gathered, or at least thought I gathered, that 
he thinks the present state of affairs very serious, and the 
position of the Government very precarious ; that he is 
meditating on the possible chances there may be for him 
and his party in the event of Palmerston's fall, and knowing 
that some sort of coalition with some other party would be 



408 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

indispensable to form any other Government, an idea had 
crossed his mind that this might be^practicable with some 
of the most moderate of the Whigs, especially with the 
younger ones, such as Granville and Argyll, and he wished 
to know if I thought this would be possible, and whether I 
could be in any way instrumental in promoting it, and if I 
did not think so what my ideas were as to the most advisable 
course in order to avert the threatened Eeform, and to give 
the country a better Government than this. This, with a 
great deal of verbiage and mixed with digressions about the 
leading men of the present day, seemed to me to be the sub- 
stance and object of his talk. He professed to speak to me 
of his own sentiments without disguise, and with entire con- 
fidence about everything, but I cannot call to mind that he 
imparted to me anything of the slightest interest or impor- 
tance. It would be difficult and not very interesting to write 
down our somewhat vague and decousu conversation, but I 
told him that I knew very little of the dispositions of any of 
the men he alluded to, but I did not believe they any of them 
would be parties to any such combination as he looked to, or 
separate from their present colleagues. 

January 2oth. — We are still without any advices from 
India. The petition to Parliament of the East India Com- 
pany, which is very able, and was written by John Mill, has 
produced a considerable effect in the world, and doubts are 
expressed in all quarters whether Government will be able to 
carry their Bill. 

January 26t7i. — The Princess Eoyal's wedding went off 
yesterday with amazing eclaf, and it is rather ludicrous to 
contrast the vehement articles with which the Press teemed 
(the "Times" in particular) against the alliance two years 
ago with the popularity of it and the enthusiasm displayed 
now. The whole thing seems to have been very successful. 
At the breakfast after the wedding, to which none but the 
Royalties were invited, the French Princes were present, 
which was amiable and becoming on the part of the Queen. 

January 28th. — As the day approaches for the re-assem- 
bling of Parliament there is an increasing imjoression that 
this Government is very likely not to get through the ses- 
sion, and the ''Times," which is always ready to assist in the 
discomfiture of a losing party, is now showing unmistakeable 
symptoms of its own doubts whether the Government is any 
longer worth supporting, and Delane told me yesterday he 



1858.] EXCITEMENT IN FRANCE AGAINST THIS COUNTRY. 409 

thought they would not remain long in office, and that it is 
time they should go, and he ridiculed the idea of its not be- 
ing practicable to form another Government. It is absurd, 
but nevertheless true, that nothing has damaged Palmerston 
so much as his making Clanricarde Privy Seal. It was an 
unwise appointment, but the fault of it is grossly exagger- 
ated. Everybody agrees that from one end of the country 
to another there is a feeling of universal indignation against 
it. Then there is a great turn in the public mind in favor 
of the East India Company, or rather against the Govern- 
ment measure, of which nothing is known, but that the 
result of it will be to place the Indian Empire in the hands 
of Vernon Smith. 

February 2d. — The Indian question has for the moment 
been superseded by the French question as it may be called, 
that is by the storm which is raging in France against this 
country, its institutions and laws, in reference to the assassi- 
nation plot of January 14.^ It was well known that the 
French Government had been urging our Ministers to adopt 
measures or to pass laws against the refugees and their 
machinations in this country ; but while this question was 
under discussion, we were astounded by a speech made by 
Persigny in reply to an address from the City, and still more 
by the publication in the "Moniteur"of certain addresses 
from corjjs or regiments of the French army to the Emperor, 
full of insult and menace to this country. These offensive 
manifestations naturally excited great indignation here, and 
the Press did not fail to hurl back these insults, and to retort 
with interest upon the persons from whom they had pro- 
ceeded or who had permitted their appearance. On Sunday 
I spoke to Clarendon on the subject. He was very much an- 
noyed and embarrassed by this posture of affairs as might be 
expected, but more than this he is very much alarmed, more 

1 [It was known in France that the explosive bombs with wbieli Orsini had 
nttompted the life of the Emperor Napoleon were manufactured in Ent;land, and 
that some of the accomplices of that conspirator were still in this country, where 
the law could not reach them for a crime committed abroad. Tlicse facts called 
forth a stronfif hostile feelintr, and England was accused of harborinar assassins. 
On January 20 Count Walewski addressed a remonstrance to the British Gov- 
ei-nment, which remained unanswered, and on January 23 Count Persigny 
s]ioke in strong language to a deputation from the City of London. Military 
addresses of a violent character from several French regiments to tlie Emperor 
were published in the Monitcur. On February 9 Lord Palmerston introduced a 
bill, called The Conspiracy to Murder Bill, making conspiracy to murder a fel- 
ony. The opposition to this bill gave rise to the ensuing events and overthrew 
the Ministry.] 

18 



410 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORU. [Chap. XV. 

than I think he need be. I said it seemed to be that the 
Emperor had forgotten his usual good sense, and that he who 
knows this country ought to have felt that if he wishes to 
have anything done here, he is taking the most effectual 
means to prevent it by permitting the military addresses to 
appear in the " Moniteur," since in the present state of the 
Press this is tantamount to their being published by the Gov- 
ernment itself. I said I could not believe that these hot and 
enthusiastic expressions were to be taken entirely as proofs 
of a passionate attachment to the Emperor's person, but that 
these were outbreaks of that hatred of England which some- 
times slumbered, but never died. He said the Emperor felt 
that his alliance with this country was indispensable to him, 
and regretted sincerely the displays of feeling in France, but 
that he did not dare to repress the sentiments evinced by the 
army, though he kept them in check as well as he could, and 
the truth was, as I have said above, that it was the undying 
animosity to us which had found a vent upon this occasion. 
He added that he had not blamed Morny, who could not say 
less than he did without being denounced by the Chamber 
as an inadequate exponent of its sentiments. The French, 
seeing how all our force is absorbed in our Indian war, 
think they may treat us as they please, and Clarendon 
fancies that if any accident were to befall the Emperor, any 
Government that might be able to establish itself would go 
to war with us as the best means of ingratiating itself with 
the nation and of being able to establish itself. He says 
they can march 50,000 men at a moment's notice to 
Cherbourg, where there is an abundance of war steamers 
ready to transport them across the Channel, while we have 
no soldiers and no ships to defend us in case of such a storm 
suddenly bursting. George Lewis says that Clarendon is 
haunted with this apprehension, which he does not share in 
the slighest degree. 

Though there is some truth in this account of the Em- 
peror's position, I cannot believe that he might not have 
kept matters more quiet in France than he has done, if he 
had exerted his influence and power for that end. There 
can be no doubt that our international relations are upon a 
very unpleasant and perilous footing, and that the evil is not 
corrected by the fact of the two Courts being on friendly 
terms, by mutual interchanges of soft sawder and proofs of 
friendship in the shape of handsome bridal gifts from the 



1858.] PETITION OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 411 

Emperor and Empress to the Princess Royal. We are going 
to do something to soothe the French ; but as it will, I be- 
lieve, be no more than to make that a felony which is now 
only a misdemeanor, it may be doubted if this will satisfy or 
appease them ; but it would be impossible to do more even 
if it were desirable, which I think it is not, and I doubt if 
even this slight concession will be obtained from Parliament 
without some strong and indignant remarks upon the tone 
which has been adopted toward England. 

February del. — The Directors have got Tom Baring and 
Lord Grey to present their petition in the two Houses, and 
they mean to adopt the moderate and judicious course of not 
agitating any further, but trust to the course of events, which 
is now turning in their favor, and to ask for delay and a 
Committee. Graham, acting, I believe, independently, means 
to move for a Committee. John Russell intimated to him 
that he did not think he should support such a motion, but 
he has not finally determined what to do, and I rather ex- 
pect he will end in voting for it. Palmerston's friends still 
tell him that his name is all powerful, and that he is sure of 
carrying through the House of Commons whatever he pro- 
poses, if the House thinks there is any possibility of a defeat 
leading to his resignation, and such is evidently his own 
opinion. In a Committee on Indian affairs and the intended 
bill, at which Bethell was present, on some objection or pos- 
sible objection being suggested by one of the members, Palm- 
erston said, in his usual jaunty way, "Oh, they will fall in 
love with our bill when they see it ; " when Bethell, in his 
niminy-piminy manner and simper, said, "Oh, my dear 
Lord ! " Granville, who told me, says it was very funny. 
They all seemed conscious of the diminution of Palmerston's 
energy and power. He is always asleep, both in the Cabinet 
and in the House of Commons, where he endeavors to con- 
ceal it by wearing his hat over his eyes. Clarendon made 
me laugh heartily the other day at his account of the Cabi- 
net, where one half of them seem to be almost always asleep, 
the first to be off being Lansdowne, closely followed by 
Palmerston and Charles Wood. I remember his giving me 
a very droll account of Melbourne's Cabinet, and of the 
drowsiness which used to reign there, more particularly with 
Melbourne himself, 

February 11th. — I never remember Parliament meeting 
with much greater curiosity and excitement. The situation 



413 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

of the Government is generally regarded as so precarious, 
and the revolution in Palmerston's popularity and therefore 
his power is so extraordinary, that everybody is expecting 
some great events will occur, and the hopes of all who wish 
for a change and who expect to profit by it are reviving. 
The bill brought in by Palmerston on Tuesday for the 
purpose of punishing conspirators and with a view to satisfy 
the exigency of the French Government made a great stir. 
The leave to bring it in was carried by a large majority, 
thanks to the Conservatives, but its success was principally 
owing to the Emperor's apology arriving just before the de- 
bate began. This pacified most of those who were enraged 
at the publications in the " Moniteur," and disposed to op- 
pose the measure on account of the conduct of the French 
Government. I have no sympathy with such a feeling, but 
it is well calculated to go down with the public, and to afford 
a plausible pretext to the Ultra-Liberals and the crotchety 
politicians. The greatest objection to this bill is that it 
will probably be quite useless for its alleged object, and 
though perhaps something more stringent might be useful, 
the Government do not dare propose anything beyond the 
present measure. 

Perhaps the most serious reflection to which this matter 
gives rise is the suspicion that the conduct of the Emperor 
Napoleon betrays either some strange infirmity in his facul- 
ties, or something so unsound and dangerous in the state 
of France, as to be pregnant with possible consequences it is 
frightful to contemplate. All that he has been doing, or has 
allowed to be done of late, is indicative of a change ; for the 
moderation and prudence, together with firmness and decis- 
ion, which have hitherto formed his best claim to the admi- 
ration and approbation of this country seem to have com- 
pletely deserted him. The penal laws enacted or to be 
enacted in France are considered as the inauguration of a 
reign of terror, and there is rapidly growing up the same 
sort of feeling about the French Empire that there is here 
about the Palmerston Government. JSTobody pretends to 
foresee what will happen, but every one thinks that the state 
of France is rendered more combustible, and that any spark 
may produce an explosion. Those who are most attached 
or most favorable to the Imperial Government are the most 
alarmed, and, when they dare speak out, express the great- 
est regret and alarm at all that is passing in France. 



1858.] OPPOSITION TO THE CONSPIRACY BILL. il3 

To turn to the Government here, their two great rocks 
ahead are the India Bill and the Keform Bill, but with 
regard to these there seems no knowledge how parties will 
act, and how leading individuals Avill vote. Most people, 
however, are impressed with the idea that neither measure 
will be carried, and that the Government will in all proba- 
bility not get through the session. It will be too absurd if 
Palmerston, after being the idol of the public, in spite of or 
in consequence of all his foolish speeches and his out- 
rageous acts, should find himself deserted and his power 
shaken because he made Clanricarde Privy Seal ; but there 
can be no doubt that this appointment has had more effect 
than any other cause in the change of public opinion about 
him. 

February lith. — Last week saw the debates in the House 
of Commons about the Conspiracy Bill, and the first act of 
the India Bill. The first is very unpopular, but it will be 
carried nevertheless. John Eussell has taken it up with 
extraordinary vehemence and anger. His opposition to it is 
furious, on high constitutional grounds, which appear tome 
absurd and uncalled for. If I were in Parliament I should 
be puzzled how to vote, for there is much to be said against 
the Bill, and much against voting against it, particularly 
against leave to bring it in. Almost all the Tories voted 
with Government, and John Russell carried very few with 
him, and neither of his own nephews. He is more than 
ever exasperated against Palmerston for bringing it in. 
The apology tendered by the Emperor, which was read to the 
House, reconciled a great many to the bill, but I have no 
notion that it will do any good, or that the French Govern- 
ment will be satisfied with it. After such a bill, which will 
certainly be carried, the British Lion must put his tail 
between his legs, and "Civis Romanus " give up swaggering 
so loftily. If Aberdeen had attempted such a measure when 
Louis Philippe was King and Guizot minister, what would 
Palmerston have said, and what would not have been the 
indignant outcry throughout the country ? The balance of 
opinion now seems to be that Government will carry their 
India Bill, and the report is that they are willing, if the 
second reading is carried, to consent to any alterations that 
may be pressed upon them in Committee. Lewis seems to 
have made a good speech on Friday, though rather of a 
didactic character. 



414 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

February 'i^th} — Unless I were to write down day by 
day the events and the impressions of each day I should 
fail in giving anything like a picture of the time, and 
I regret that my indolence or other occupations have pre- 
vented my doing this. I have each day promised myself 
I would not neglect it, and then, failing to keep that prom- 
ise (to myself), I have found some fresh occurrence sweeping 
away the interest, and generally the accurate recollection, of 
what the preceding days have produced. The varieties of 
the aspects of public affairs have been like the figures in 
a kaleidoscope, and one ought to catch each fleeting sym- 
metrical arrangement before it is changed into some other 
equally fleeting in order to comprehend the rapidity and im- 
portance of the changes which are going on. Not long ago 
(that is, not many weeks) a vague idea began to circulate 
that the Government would have difficulty in getting suc- 
cessfully through this session, and that their power had 
suffered some diminution. It was thought that the India 
Bill and the Eeform Bill would be too much for them, and 
when a little later the events in France induced them to 
bring in the Conspiracy Bill, the excessive unpopularity of 
this last measure strengthened the impression of their insta- 
bility. Everybody out of the pale of the Government itself 
admitted that Palmerston was not the man he was, and the 
diminution of his popularity was visible universally. This 
was attributed to several smaller causes, but the great one 
was the appointment of Clanricarde, which beyond all doubt 
has been regarded with a disgust and indignation to the last 
degree exaggerated and uncalled for. Such was the state of 
public feeling and opinion when the Parliamentary campaign 
opened with the discussions first of the Conspiracy Bill, and 
secondly of the Eeform Bill. After a few days, however, a 
great change seemed to have taken place, though the country 
and the Press watched with great Jealousy the progress of 
the Conspiracy Bill, keeping up a very loud growl of dislike 
to the Bill, and resentment against the French Government. 
In the division on the question of leave to bring in the bill 
the majority of the Conservatives came over to the Govern- 

1 [On February 19 the Government were defeated on the Conspiracy Bill, in 
the House of CommonSj by a majority of 234 to 215, Mr. Milner Gibson's amend- 
ment having been carried against them. The majority consisted of 146 Con- 
servatives, 84 Liberals. Mr. Gladstone, Lord John Eussell, Sir James Graham, 
Mr. Cardwell, and Mr. Sidney Herbert voted against the bill. Lord Palmerston 
immediately resigned.] 



1858.] THE CATASTROPHE UNEXPECTED. 415 

ment, and they got a majority of the Conservatives of three 
to one. A few days after Palmerston brouglit in the India 
Bill, about which for a moment it was thought Baring with 
his amendment might run him hard, but after a very poor 
debate, in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a 
very good speech, and the President of the Board of Control 
made no sj^eech at all, the Government got a majority of 
near 150. These two victories, though the first was obtained 
by the aid of opponents, raised the spirits of the Ministerial- 
ists, and were generally taken as indicative of more strength 
than they had been supposed to have, and as pretty clear 
proofs that Palmerston would at all events get unscathed 
through this session with not much diminished authority 
and influence. 

But while they were triumphing in the fancied security 
which these divisions seemed to promise them, a storm was 
gathering, for the bursting of which they were far from 
being prepared, nor did they estimate its importance. The 
public feeling had become more and more exasperated at the 
Conspiracy Bill, and at the conduct of France. The first 
reading of the bill would not have been carried as it was, 
perhaps not at all, but for the apology, as it was called, of 
the Emperor, and the soothing effect of Walewski's despatch 
carrying expressions of his master's regret and a sort of 
half disclaimer of the military addresses. But this soothing 
effect was very transitory. It was remarked that while the 
"Moniteur" continued to insert fresh addresses of an offen- 
sive character, the apologetic despatch did not appear at all, 
and the original despatch of Walewski (January 20), which 
had excited so much indignation here, and which was not 
denied to have been the origin of the Conspiracy Bill, lay 
upon the table of the House of Commons unanswered by our 
Government. On this point a good deal of surprise and 
anger had been evinced in the Press and in society, and the 
discontent against the Government generally, and Palmerston 
in particular, was still spreading, when Milner Gibson took 
advantage of the prevailing temper, and moved a resolution 
in the shape of an amendment to the second reading of the 
bill, very skilfully concocted, but which was a direct vote of 
censure upon the Government (i^articularly of course directed 
against Palmerston and Clarendon) for not having answered 
that despatch. 

Palmerston, I have been assured, when he saw the terms 



416 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

of this amendment, perceived that it might be dangerous, and 
that it was well calculated to get votes; but it is certain that 
the Government generally were in no apprehension, and that 
nobody of any party (I believe literally nobody) had the 
least idea that any vote of censure, which of course involved 
the existence of the Grovernment, had the slightest chance 
of being carried. I met Sir Edward Lytton at the Athenae- 
um on Friday, just as he was going to the House, and had 
some conversation with him. He treated Palmerston's posi- 
tion as impregnable, and said he would have a very large 
majority that evening. So confident were the Government 
whippers-in that they made no esertions, and Hayter actu- 
ally allowed some of his people to go away unpaired, telling 
them that they were quite safe, and their presence not neces- 
sary. I went to the House of Lords that evening to hear 
Macaulay, who was to have spoken but did not speak, and 
afterward went home, hearing nothing more that night. 
Great was my astonishment when I read in the "Times" 
this morning that Government had been beaten on Milner 
Gibson's motion by 19, and a few minutes after Granville 
came in and said that this defeat must be conclusive and 
nothing left for them but to resign. A Cabinet was held in 
the afternoon, at which it was decided that Palmerstou 
should repair to Buckingham Palace with the resignations 
of himself and his colleagues. 

February %lst. — Nothing more was known last night, 
but it was evident that Derby had been sent for in prefer- 
ence to Lord John, whom I met at Brooks's in the morning, 
and who did not expect the Queen to send for him. He 
told me Gladstone, he believed, and Graham, he knew, 
would not join Derby, and he thought neither Sidney Her- 
bert nor Cardwell would either. As to the future, there 
really are quot homines tot sententim. Some think Derby 
cannot form a Government, some that he will not try. The 
sanguine Palmerstonians think all other attempts will fail 
and Palmerston remain in power, as Lord Grey did in 1831, 
and some fancy he will endeavor to propitiate the House of 
Commons and public opinion by throwing overboard Clanri- 
carde, to whose appointment the mischief is in great meas- 
ure attributed. Such is at this moment the state of doubt 
and confusion which generally prevail. 

February 23d — Nothing is yet known of Derby's prog- 
ress except that he tried the Peelites, not one of whom 



1858.] THE DEFEAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN AVOIDED. 417 

would Join. He sent for Newcastle from Clumber, who 
came up, saw him, and declined. It is evident that they 
mean to act in concert, except probably Graham, who has 
espoused John Eussell, and who will not separate himself 
from Lord John's fortitnes. There was a prevailing expec- 
tation yesterday that Derby would abandon his attempt, and 
that Palmerston would come back, but Derby seems quite 
determined to go on. The Palmerstonians certainly expect 
their exclusion to be of short duration, and nobody thinks 
that any Government Derby can possibly make will last 
long. 

Never was there a great catastrophe so totally unexpected. 
Within an hour of the beginning of the debate no one 
doubted that the Government would have a majority, but 
Milner Gibson's speech was not concluded before it was evi- 
dent that his amendment would be carried, and Palmerston's 
conduct was very unaccountable. It was clear from the 
tone of his speech, which was as bad as possible, feeble and 
intemperate, that he was aware of what was going to hap- 
pen, and yet when the true state of the case was urged upon 
him, and he was pressed to adjourn the debate till Monday, 
which could easily have been done, he obstinately refused. 
If he had done this, there is little doubt that he would have 
whipped up a majority by Monday. Certainly no people 
ever so mismanaged their affairs. There is no excuse for 
their having put on the table of the House of Commons 
such a despatch as Walewski's, without any reply being 
made to it. It required no great sagacity to anticipate that 
such a course of proceeding could not fail to throw the 
House of Commons into aflame, and exasperate the country, 
already much excited, and all the excuses they made only 
made their case worse, and were generally inconsistent with 
each other. George Grey's was the most pitiful, when he 
said that after the second reading an answer should be sent. 
Then they made shuffling statements : at one time that they 
had sent no answer, and that to have answered it as alone it 
could be answered must have increased the irritation. Then, 
that they had given a verbal answer, and at last it transpired 
that an answer had been sent in the shape of n private letter 
from Clarendon to Cowley. 

There were two courses open to the Government, either 
of which might have been very naturally and not improperly 
taken. Palmerston might have announced that it was not 



418 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

liis intention to produce any of the correspondence between 
the two Governments, and asked the House of Commons to 
place confidence in him, and allow him to take the steps he 
deemed best to satisfy the French Government, and at the 
same time vindicate the honor and dignity of this country, 
and if he had stated that he thought it would be injurious 
to the interests of peace and amity to produce any papers, it 
is perfectly certain he would have met with unanimous ac- 
quiescence. The only objection I have heard to this is that 
the French Government published the despatch in the 
"■ Moniteur ; " but, if Palmerston had resolved upon silence 
here, he could have informed Cowley of his resolution, and 
instructed him to come to a common agreement with Walew- 
ski that they should publish nothing in the " Moniteur," 
and we should keep the correspondence from Parliament 
here. Not acting in this way, he ought to have sent an 
answer, and who can suppose that such men as Palmerston 
and Clarendon, whose lives have been passed in writing de- 
spatches, and who are both so remarkably expert at that 
work, should be unable to concoct a reply to Walewski which 
should be conciliatory in tone and matter, and at once suffice 
for the fears and exigencies of France and for the national 
pride and honor of England ? Clarendon's private letter is 
said to have been excellent, and of course it must have been 
well adapted for its purposes. What difficulty could there 
have been, therefore, in converting the private into a public 
letter, which, if it had accompanied the French letter, would 
have pacified both the House of Commons and the country, 
for the Government ought not to have forgotten, as it«seems 
they did, that the English and French Governments were 
not the only parties in this transaction, but there were the 
English Government and the House of Commons and the 
country, between whom accounts had to be settled. There 
are people who fancy that Palmerston was not sorry to be 
beaten on Milner Gibson's motion, thinking it better to go 
out upon that than upon the motion against Clanricarde on 
March 4 (the abolition of the Privy Seal), on which they 
think they certainly would have been defeated, and on which 
they must have resigned ; but I don't think their defeat on 
the latter was so certain, and they might have been saved by 
Clanricarde's resignation before the debate came on. The 
conduct of those who brought forward and those who sup- 
ported the vote of censure, and that of the Government in 



1858.] DETERMINATION TO RESIGN. 419 

going out upon it, admits of much diversity of opinion. 
The friends of the Government, and those who were averse 
to a change, maintain that the amendment was inexcusable, 
and that the House of Commons had no business to meddle 
with the functions of the Executive, or to express any opin- 
ion as to the propriety of answering or not a despatch which 
ought to have been left to the discretion of the Minister, and 
the ex- Ministers say that the vote made it impossible for 
them to do anything but resign, and that their opponents 
must have been fully aware that this would be the conse- 
quence of their victory. 

Their conduct is inexplicable to me, for I believe they 
were very sorry to go out, and yet if they had wished it they 
might have very well stayed in. According to ancient prac- 
tice any vote of censure produced resignation as a matter of 
course, no m.atter what the subject of it, but it did so be- 
cause a vote of censure, and indeed any adverse vote on any 
important measure, implied that the House of Commons had 
withdrawn its confidence from the Government, the fact of 
which rendered it impossible for them to carry on the affairs 
of the country, and obliged them to resign. But it is im- 
possible to pretend that the late vote indicated the with- 
drawal of the confidence of the House of Commons generally. 
They had had two immense majorities a few days before, 
and they would have had another as large a few days after if 
they had gone on with the bill. If I had been able to advise 
the Queen, I would have recommended her to refuse Lord 
Palmerston's resignation, and have insisted on his testing the 
question of confidence on the Conspiracy Bill, or on some 
question in which the national passions were not concerned, 
and he could not have refused to take this course. Even 
after she had sent for Derby he gave her the opportunity 
(tliongh not I suppose the advice to do so), for he said she 
had better take another day for consideration, and then if 
she decided on wishing him to form a Government, he would 
undertake it. 

February 2Gth. — I met George Lewis yesterday, and 
talked over with him the whole affair. He thinks that it 
has all been fearfully mismanaged, and that the catastrophe 
might have been avoided in many different ways : first, by 
answering the despatch ; secondly, by doing what I have 
suggested, producing no papers and asking for confidence ; 
then by the Speaker's declining to allow the nmendmcnt to 



420 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. 

be put, as he well might have done, and as a strong Speaker 
would have done. Lord Eversley advised him to do this, 
and gave his strong opinion that the amendment was mad- 
missible. It is curious that Palmerston's overthrow should 
be the work of a Parliament elected expressly to support 
him, and immediately caused by the act of a Speaker Avhom 
he insisted upon putting in the chair, contrary to the advice 
of many others who thought he would prove ineJBficient. 

I told Lewis I thought their resignation was not called 
for, and what I would have advised the Queen. He said the 
whole question was well and most calmly and dispassionately 
considered, and they were unanimous as to the necessity of 
resignation, with the sole exception of Vernon Smith, and 
that was without any arri&re peiisee of returning on an an- 
ticipated failure of Derby ; that the Queen had begged 
Palmerston not to resign upon this vote, and he had re- 
turned to the Cabinet, and reported what she said, but they 
were all without exception for adhering to their resignation. 
Derby, too, had evidently wished to afford Palmerston an 
opportunity of recalling it, for he had begged the Queen to 
take twenty-four hours to consider of it ; but it is probable 
that Her Majesty, having failed to persuade Palmerston m 
the first instance, had thought it useless to make any further 
attempts. 

Lewis gave me such strong reasons for their determina- 
tion, that I confess they materially shook my opinion. He 
said there was no possibility of mistaking the feeling there 
was against Palmerston, which if I had been present and 
seen what passed in the Plouse that night, I could not have 
doubted ; that the only way in which they could have stayed 
in was by getting somebody to move a vote of confidence, 
which was too dangerous an experiment, as in the present 
state of the House of Commons it was at least an even chance 
that such a vote would not have been carried, and certain 
that they would have had all the great guns of all sides 
thundering against them. He thought Palmerston's speech 
had been very ill advised, and had done much harm, and 
that it was a mistake not to have adjourned the debate, when 
it was very probable that they might have had an opportu- 
nity of changing the fortune of it. 



1858.] 



THE SECOND DERBY ADMINISTRATOR. 



421 



CHAPTER XVI. 



The Second Derby Administration— Lord Derby's first Speech— Lord Clanricarde defends 
himself — The New Ministry — Coincidences — Lord Derby's favorable Position — Opinion 
of the Speaker — Lord Derby's Liberal Declarations — Dinner to Mr. Buckle — Instability 
of the Government— Mr. Disraeli's sang-uine Views — India — Prospects of the new 
Government — A Visit to the Due d'Aumale — Delicate Uelations with France — Lord 
John Russell and Lord Palmerston — Irritation of the Whigs— Marshal Pelissier Am- 
bassador in Loudon— The Peehtes and the Wnigs— Failure of the India Bill — An Over- 
ture from Lord John Kussell— Dissensions of the Whigs — Lord Derby resolves to 
remain in Office— Lord John Kussell proposes to deal with the India Bill by Itesolu- 
tions — Mistake of the Whigs in resigning on the Conspiracy Bill — Withdrawal of the 
India Bill — Policy of the Whigs in Opposition — Lord C'owley on the Relations of Franco 
and England— Strong Opposition to the Government — Lord Derby on the State of 
Affairs —Disunion of the Whigs — Lord Canning's Proclamation — Littlecote House — 
Vehemence of the Opposition— Lord Lyndhiirst displeased— Debates on the Indian 
Proclamation — (Jollapse of the Debates— Triumj)h of the Ministry — Disraeli's violent 
Speech at Slough — Lord Palmerston's Discomfiture — Prospects of a Fusion — Success 
of the Uoverninent— Concessions to the Radicals — The Queen's Visit to Birmingham 
Progress of the India Bill— The Jew Bill — The Jew Bill passed -Disturbed State of 
Lidia-Barou Hrunnow on the Russian War. 

London, ^Ith February, 1858. — All yesterday lists of the 
new appointments were put forth from hour to hour, unlike 
each other, and jiroving "what changes had been made during 
the last hours. Nobody was prepared for Bulwcr Lytton 
having no place, and still less for Lord Stanley taking office 
in this Government, "which must have been settled at the 
eleventh hour. On the whole it presents a more decent- 
looking affair than anybody expected, but the general im- 
pression is that it cannot last, and must be overthrown by 
the mere weight of numbers, whenever the different sections 
of the House should unite on any question whatever. Their 
staff is not so despicable, but their rank and file are sadly 
inadequate if they are attacked in earnest.^ 



' [Tlio second Administration of 
lows : 

First Lord of the Treasury 

Lord Chancellor 

Lord President . 

Lord Privy Seal 

Chancellor of the Exchequer 

Home Secretary 

Foreifrn Secretary 

Colonial Secretary 

"War Secretary . 

Board of Control 

Board of Trade . 

Duchy of Lancaster . 

Admiralty .... 

Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland 

Chief Secretary . 

Woods and Forests . 



the Earl of Derby -n-as composed as fol- 



Earl of Derby. 

Lord Chelmsford. 

Marquis of Salisbury. 

Earl of Hardwicke. 

Mr. Disraeli. 

Mr. "Walpole. 

Earl of Mai mes bury. 

Lord Stanley. 

Colonel Peel. 

Earl of Ellenboi-ough. 

Mr. nenle.\'. 

Duke of Montrose. 

Sir John Pakington. 

Earl of Efflinton. 

Lord Naas. 

Lord John Manners.] 



422 REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

Marched. — Last night Derby made his statement. He 
was very nervous and unlike himself, scarcely audible at first, 
much less fluent than usual, and he spoke from notes, which 
I never saw him do before. It was, however, a very judicious 
and becoming speech. Granville and Clarendon both spoke 
very well, and the whole affair was very creditable and satis- 
factory, civil, courteous, and good-humored on all sides. 
Clarendon made a very plausible defence of his own conduct 
in not answering Walewski's despatch, which was so good 
that Hardwicke crossed the House to compliment him, and 
said if that speech had been made in the House of Commons 
there would have been no division. The impression left on 
me is that though it was a pretty good defence, he would 
have exercised a sounder discretion if he had sent an answer, 
and that there was no difficulty in doing so. Clanricarde has 
given notice of what the "Times" calls favoring the House 
with some leaves of his autobiography. He has been advised 
to take this course by some of his friends and colleagues, 
particularly Lord Lansdowne ; but in spite of such respecta- 
ble authority, I think it an ill-advised step, from which he 
is likely to derive little if any benefit. He is going to defend 
himself against something intangible, for no accuser will ap- 
pear, and there is no charge which he is called upon to rebut. 
No doubt his appointment has been the real cause of the 
downfall of the Government. It is this which ruined the 
popularity of Palmerston. It is only fair to admit that 
they could not have been expected to anticipate all the hub- 
bub it made, nor anything like it. 

People are now wondering that Palmerston's fall has 
made so little sensation and the event fallen so flat, consid- 
ering what his popularity was only a few months ago, but 
this proves what an unsubstantial and factitious popularity 
it was. Derby has done better than his predecessor in one 
way, for he has brought forward some new men who have a 
good reputation, and may distinguish themselves in Parlia- 
ment, and show us that we have something to look to beyond 
the old worn out materials of which everybody is tired. The 
first class of this Government is not worse than that of the 
last, and the second class is a great deal better. There are 
some rather curious coincidences noticeable in this smash. 
The majority by which the Whigs fell was nineteen. It was 
the same on the China question last year, and nineteen 
turned out Derby in 1853. Derby has been three times 



1858.] LORD DERBY'S FAVORABLE START. 423 

called on to form a Government, and each time on the 21st 
of February. At the present moment there appears to be a 
disposition to give him what is called a fair trial, but it is 
difficult to say how long this will last. The Whigs are in 
great perplexity. Some talk of Palmerston coming back 
again, others want to bring about a reunion between hira 
and Lord John, and others still talk of setting them both 
aside and electing a new leader of the party. 

March 3d. — The discussion, for there Avas no debate, on 
Monday has produced a very favorable effect. Derby's speech 
is much admired for its calm and dignified tone, and the 
matter of it considered judicious and satisfactory. As an 
exhibition the whole proceeding is thought eminently credit- 
able to the country, and such as must strike foreigners par- 
ticularly. This is unquestionably true, and it has been a 
very good start for Derby. As far as one can Judge in so 
short a time, there is a growing opinion that he ought to 
have fair play and no vexatious opposition, and Granville 
this morning told me he thought he would get on very well. 
Palmerston has begged Cowley not to resign, which is very 
honorable and becoming. There are symptoms of a dispo- 
sition on the part of the "Times" to support the new Gov- 
ernment, and I have little doubt that they can secure this 
great advantage if they manage their affairs with common 
prudence, and set to work diligently to frame such measures 
of improvement and utility as will satisfy public opinion. I 
entreated Jonathan Peel to lose no time in dealing with the 
matter of the health of the soldiers and the mortality amongst 
them brought to light by Sidney Herbert's Committee. This 
alone, well and quickly done, would be of prodigious service 
to the new Government. 

March Gth. — I gather from what I hear that Lord Palm- 
erston is preparing to buckle on his armor, and to wage 
war against the new Government with the hope and expec- 
tation of forcing himself back into office speedily, and that 
the new Opposition mean to attack the new Government as 
quickly and as vehemently as they can. John Eussell says 
they "ought not to be recklessly or prematurely opposed." 
Guizot, it seems, has written to Aberdeen about the " union 
of all shades of Liberals " as a desideratum, to which Lord 
John says "whether it be possible he knows not, but that he 
is an obstacle to it on our side, and Palmerston on the other." 

The Speaker, with whom I had a long talk yesterday. 



424 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

thinks this Government never can stand, and he says, truly 
enough, that though Derby and Co. did not mahe the situa- 
tion which compelled the resignation of the last, they ac- 
cepted it with full knowledge of the consequences of their 
vote, and are therefore responsible. He considers that what 
has happened and is likely to happen is all to the benefit of 
the Eadicals, who well know this, and rejoice at it accord- 
ingly, and he thinks Milner Gibson framed his amendment 
with the design of its leading to the defeat of Palmerston, 
and the advent of Derby to a power which he never desired 
to be of long duration. All this I could not gainsay, and it 
is certainly true that this change has only produced a fresh 
set of difficulties and dangers, the result of which who can 
foresee ? 

Derby's liberal declaration in his programme last Monday 
has been taken up and extended by his followers, but it is 
very improbable that the enunciation of such principles and 
intentions will carry with it the assent of the old and genu- 
ine Tories, many of whom will most likely ere long declare 
their adhesion to their old creed, and their abhorrence of 
the new-born liberalism of their chief, and Derby may one 
day find himself in a lesser degree in something like the 
position of Peel when he gave notice of his intention to pro- 
pose the repeal of the Corn Laws. Derby's declaration now 
affords a practical justification of Peel's course then, for Peel 
was never so much opposed to Free Trade as Derby and all 
his followers to Keform, and his excuse is based on similar 
grounds, namely, the progress and irresistible force of public 
opinion. 

March 10th. — I dined with Grote yesterday to meet Mr. 
Buckle, the literary lion of the day. He is not prepossessing 
in appearance, but he talks very well and makes a great dis- 
play of knowledge and extensive reading, though without 
pedantry or dogmatism. There was a small party of literary 
men to meet him, and Lady William Russell and I acted the 
part of gallery. The guests were Count Platen the Swedish 
Minister, the Master of the Polls, Dr. "William Smith, young 
Bunbury (Sir Henry's son), and Lowe. It was pleasant 
enough. 

There is a prevailing and an increasing impression that 
this Government will not last long, and I think its days are 
numbered. The old Government are evidently impatient to 
resume their places, and within the last two or three days 



1858.] INSTABILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 425 

there is an evident change in their spirits and their expecta- 
tions. Whether it is desirable or not that Derby should be 
jiermitted to go on for some time I know not, but I doubt 
if it is possible. John Russell might perhaps prefer keeping 
Derby in place for a time, in order to prevent Palraerstou's 
coming back, but I do not think he will be able to do so if 
he wishes it, and even those Liberals Avho are not very fond 
of Palmerston seem to be indignant at a Tory party holding 
office with an immense majority against them in the House 
of Commons. It is certainly a question whether any set of 
men have a right under any circumstances to accept office 
with full knowledge that there is a majority of at least two to 
one against them, and if one set of ministers are bound to 
resign, not merely on finding the majority against them, but 
upon a single adverse vote, a fortiori must another set be 
precluded from taking office without the power of command- 
ing the assent and support of Parliament upon any question 
whatever. Sir Francis Baring writes to John Russell, " that 
the existence of the present Ministry is contrary to Parlia- 
mentary Government," and this seems to be the general sen- 
timent of the Liberal party, of course loudly insisted on by 
those who expect to profit by ousting them. 

March 11th, — My mind fluctuates back to a notion that 
the Government will be able to maintain themselves for some 
time. Ellice said yesterday that he for one would not join 
in any attempt to oust them till he saw liis way to the for- 
mation of a better Government, and thinks time ought to be 
afforded for a reunion of the Liberal party. In the afternoon 
I called on Disraeli, and found him rather sanguine about 
their prospects. He said they should settle, in fact had set- 
tled, the French question "with flying colors." He sees no 
difficulty about finance, as there can be no quarrels on the 
score of principles, and he will only have to provide for the 
expenses either by some increased taxation, or if that is op- 
posed, by a loan, and he does not think the Palmerstonians 
will venture to refuse the supplies, or that they would suc- 
ceed in such an attempt. His Indian Bill he thinks will be 
a better and more popular measure, and he knows of nothing 
else but the chapter of accidents on which they will have any 
serious difficulty. 

Afterward I fell in with Charles Villiers, and talked over 
the fall of the Government, which he attributed, as I do, to 
the enormous and inconceivable blunders which his friends 



426 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

committed. He is always sensible, unprejudiced, and the 
most satisfactory person to talk to I am acquainted with. 
John Kussell is in great indignation at Disraeli's speech at 
his election, and his attributing all sorts of bad motives to 
the Whigs in their Ileform of 1831, which was certainly very 
imprudent to say the least of it, for in his condition it was 
most desirable for him" to avoid giving offence to any of the 
influential people, whose hostility may be very dangerous to 
him. I had not read his speech when I saw him, or I should 
have told him so. 

March 12th. — It is remarkable how completely the affairs 
at home have superseded the interest belonging to those of 
India. Nobody seems to think about what so recently ab- 
sorbed everyone's thoughts and feelings. This is, however, 
in great measure owing to the general belief that the great 
question of suppressing the rebellion and re-establishing our 
rule is virtually settled, and though we may yet have a great 
deal of trouble and even difficulty, all serious danger is at an 
end, and that we are as secure of possessing India as of any 
of our colonies. The apprehensions I had on the subject, 
and which I have expressed, have been very far from realized, 
and those who took more sanguine and confident views of 
the issue of the contest have been justified by the event. 

March 17th. — The new Government is looking up. On 
Monday evening Bernal Osborne attacked Disraeli in his 
usual style, and gave him an opportunity of making a speech 
in reply, which everybody acknowledges to have been most 
able and successful. Bernal was very bad, Palmerston spoke 
feebly, professed moderate intentions toward the new Gov- 
ernment, but clearly indicated that he meant to take office 
again if he could. His speech was tamely received, and fur- 
nished a fresh proof of the loss of his popularity and influ- 
ence. Last night again, in a little skirmish between Disraeli 
and George Lewis, the former had the best of it. Clanri- 
carde having had the egregious folly to announce to the 
House of Lords his intention to make " a personal state- 
ment," in which he was unaccountably supported by such 
men as George Lewis and Lansdowne among others, found 
out that everybody thought he was making a great fool of 
himself and withdrew it, but his colleagues are annoyed at 
his putting himself forward to ask questions of Derby. He 
sits on the front Opposition bench in the midst of his late 
colleagues, who would be glad to be rid of him, particularly 



1858.] A VISIT TO THE DUG D'AUMALE. 427 

as they know that in the event of their return to office he 
would be left out. 

March 20th. — I went on Friday with M. de Jarnac to 
Orleans House to pay a visit to the Due d'Aumale and see 
his interesting collection of books and pictures. He is very 
courteous, obliging, and intelligent, and the Duchess very 
civil and pleasing. His house was formerly occupied by his 
father, Louis Philippe, improved and enlarged by Lord Kil- 
morey, who lived there with Miss Hoste, and bought from 
him by the Duke, who has filled it full of objects of historical 
or artistic interest, especially of memorials of the great Oonde. 
The family portraits, of which there is a vast collection, are 
particulary curious. He has two sons, who bear the fine 
titles of Prince de Conde and Due de Guise, but it is melan- 
choly to contemplate the avenir of these boys, whose high 
birth is their misfortune, and to whom no profession or occu- 
pation seems open. They have lost their own country by 
no fault of their own, and are so situated that they cannot 
or will not get adopted in any other. ^ It is a false position if 
ever there was one. The family appear to have been alarmed 
by the recent events in France, and the indirect efi'ect which 
those events might have upon them, for they have reason to 
believe that they are exposed to a constant system of espion- 
nage by the French Government, who wish very much to 
implicate them if possible in some of the plots that they be- 
lieve to be constantly going on here, and great vigilance on 
their part is necessary not to commit themselves in any way 
to unknown Frenchmen who approach under pretences of 
attachment to their family or to make appeals to their charity. 

The other day I got a note from Lord Derby about a 
Council, at the end of which he earnestly begged me if I 
had any influence with the " Times " to get them to abstain 
from writing any more irritating articles about France, for 
that these articles provoked the French to madness, and, as 
matters are, that nothing but the utmost care and modera- 
tion on both sides enabled the two Governments to go on 
in harmony. 1 accordingly sent his note to Delane, who 
promised to attend to it, though it was hard to leave the 
French press without replies. It is curious that I should be 

' [Alas ! both these interesting and promisine youncf Princes were cut off in 
early life, the Prince de Cond6 dying: in New South VVales, at the outset of a 
journey on which he had started "under the most auspicious circumstances. The 
Due de Guise, then the sole survivintr child and heir of the Due d'Aumale also 
died soon after the return of the Royal Family to France in 1871.] 



428 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

found acting a friendly part toward Derby's Government, 
he being of all men the one to whom I have felt the greatest 
political repugnance ; but I am now so free from all political 
predilections, and regard constant changes as so objection- 
able, that I wish this Government to be fairly tried, espe- 
cially as it appears to me quite as good as any other we 
are likely to have ; disposed to work hard and promote good 
measures, and to be unable, even if they were disposed, to 
do any harm. 

I find a disposition to carp at the settlement of the French 
quarrel, though without any good reason. Lord Malmesbury's 
letter might have been better composed, and more showy, 
but the object was to close the quarrel in a manner that 
would satisfy the pride and allay the irritation of this coun- 
try, without being so exacting toward France as to pique her 
into fresh ebullitions offensive to us, and this has been done, 
though it cannot be said with truth that they had settled 
the dispute '"'with flying colors." The French Government 
have had the last word, and exhibited some spleen, which is 
not very unnatural considering the part they have had to 
play, eating humble pie and retracting almost everything 
they said. 

The Duke of Bedford is in town, having been urgently 
pressed to come up and see what he could do to effect a 
political reconciliation between Lord John and Palmerston, 
which he has certainly not effected, and probably will fail in 
effecting. Lord John said some months ago that he never 
would take office again but as Premier, but what the Whigs 
want is that he should join them, consent to co-operate in 
ousting Derby, and then to take office under Palmerston ; 
but if he would not do this before the present session began, 
much less would he be inclined to do so now. He knows 
very well that they are only trying to make it up with him, 
because they feel that they cannot do without him, and as 
they still prefer Palmerston, and mean to stick to him, and 
to come back with him as their chief, there is very little 
chance of any negotiation being brought to a successful issue. 
The best chance of the Whigs being reunited is, that the 
present Government should take sufficient root, and stay in 
office long enough to show that nothing but a complete rec- 
onpiliation of the Liberals of all shades and opinions can 
drive them out, and for this time is required. The notion 
the late Government cherished of being able to turn out 



1858.] RECONCILIATION OF STATESMEN. 429 

their opponents in a very brief space is already gone, and 
they find that the majority of the House of Commons will 
be no party to such an overthrow. 

March 21st. — The Duke of Bedford has just been here ; 
he has been occupied with vain attempts to bring about the 
reconciliation so much desired by his political friends, but 
without success or any hope of it ; he finds the estrangement 
between Palmerston and Lord John great as ever, and even 
between Lord John and Clarendon, the latter complaining 
bitterly that Lord John " went out of his way to insult him," 
which meant that in his speech the other day he spoke 
civilly of Malmesbury, saying he had no doubt he would up- 
hold the honor and dignity of the country. All this shows 
the excessive soreness and ill-humor of the outgoing party, 
and though Clarendon expresses the most unalloyed satis- 
faction at being out of office, it proves there is the amari 
aliquid to detract from his pleasure at being free ; and it is 
not unnatural that the great part he has himself had in bring- 
ing about the catastrophe should make him very sore and 
uneasy, and a blow has been given to his reputation the ef- 
fects of which may be hereafter serious. 

March 25th. — Marshal Pelissier is going to replace Per- 
signy here as Ambassador, a strange choice. He is a mili- 
tary ruffian, who knows no more of diplomacy than he does 
of astronomy. Persigny goes because he cannot agree with 
WaleAvski ; 1 don't know the details of his dissatisfaction. 
His departure is regretted, as he is believed to be honest and 
true, and sincerely anxious to promote a good understanding 
between the two countries. 

The Duke of Bedford has just been here ; he came from 
Lord Aberdeen, who tells him the Peelites are all verging 
toward a union with Lord John, some more, some less ; 
Graham is devoted to him, Sidney Herbert and Card well per- 
fectly well disposed, the Duke of Newcastle gradually be- 
coming so, and Gladstone at present the least friendly, but 
Aberdeen thinks is getting more friendly, and will eventually 
join his standard, and AlDerdeen himself is doing all he can 
to bring about this union. He is going to speak to the 
Queen about it, with a view of reconciling her to Lord John 
without knowing how necessary it is. The Duke said he 
rather doubted the expediency of Aberdeen's speaking to 
Her Majesty, but I told him it was better he should, and 
very necessary to take all means to remove her feeling 



430 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

against Lord John. I also told him what had passed 
between the Queen and Clarendon, and how he had endeav- 
ored to persuade Her Majesty that it would be impossible 
for himself to be Prime Minister, and that if Palmerston 
failed from any cause, her only course would be to send 
for Lord John, and to do so frankly and graciously. I 
begged him to let Lord John know this, as it was so desira- 
ble to bring about a reconciliation between them, which 
this fact would be calculated to promote. The Duke owned 
it was very handsome conduct on the part of Clarendon, as 
it is indeed on the part of Aberdeen, after all that Lord John 
did in breaking up his Government ; but Aberdeen is a 
gentleman and a patriot, sincerely attached to the Queen, 
and to the best interests of the country, and while he has 
retired altogether from public life and the turmoil of politics, 
he is anxious still to exercise the great moral influence which 
he possesses to advance the public interests according to the 
dictates of his judgment and his conscience. 

HatcJiford, March ^^th. — On Friday last Disraeli brought 
on the Government India Bill, which Ellenborough told 
some of his friends would be "■ a great success," and which 
everybody expected would be an improvement on Palmer- 
ston's. Never was there a greater failure ; the bill was 
received with general aversion and contempt. The Eadicals, 
who want to keep the Government in for the present, 
could not stomach it. Roebuck pronounced it a sham, and 
Bright, who detests Palmerston, said he preferred his bill of 
the two. It is evidently impossible that this bill can pass, 
and everybody sees what a fix it places public affairs in, and 
what difficulties and uncertainties present themselves on all 
sides. The only people who are pleased are the Palmer- 
stonians. They think that when this bill has been rejected 
or withdrawn theirs will pass, and this will, ex necessitate, 
compel Derby to retire and open the way to Palmerston's 
return to office. They are therefore chuckling over the 
dilemma, but it may be without its leading to the realization 
of their hopes. There are a great many men in the House of 
Commons, Peelites or Eadicals principally, but also some 
others, who cannot endure the notion of Palmerston's coming 
back, and who will oppose his bill, after the other has been 
swept away, merely to prevent his return. What the Eadi- 
cals would like is that both bills should be referred to a 
Select Committee, and a third bill be concocted out of the 



1858.] MR. DISRAELI'S INDIA BILL. 431 

two ; but this scheme would not be likely to meet with gen- 
eral approbation, for it would be in fact a delegation of the 
proper functions of government to the House of Commons. 
It appears not unlikely that both bills will fail and that no 
measure at all will pass this year. The Government people 
are extremely dejected at the state of affairs, but it is said 
they do not mean to resign upon the defeat of their bill. 

Meanwhile John Kussell has made a sort of overture to 
Granville, 1. e., he sent George Byng to him on Sunday to 
invite him to say what he thought would be the most 
eligible course to adopt in the present state of affairs, and 
with reference to the Government bill. This was not very 
Judicious on his part, and Granville was an odd man to se- 
lect, being in a different House of Parliament, and so bound 
to Palmerston that he could not avoid communicating to 
him the overture and his reply to it. George Byng says 
Granville appeared a good deal surprised, but he thought 
rather pleased. Granville said he could give no immediate 
answer, but would write to him, which he did the next day, 
and told him George Lewis would go down to Pembroke 
Lodge to see Lord John. I have no idea that anything will 
come of this, for none of the late Cabinet can or will trans- 
fer their allegiance from Palmerston to Lord John, unless 
the former consents to it, and abdicates his position of chief 
of the Whig party, which he seems to have no thoughts of 
doing, and it is impossible to conciliate their rival claims 
and pretensions. 

April 2d. — A letter from the Duke of Bedford this morn- 
ing says that Lord John is inclined to throw out the India 
Bill, as it is too bad to admit of any improvement, and that 
he thinks if he does this Palmerston will support him ; but 
the Duke adds that it is rumored that the Government will 
not go out if their bill is defeated. It is easy to understand 
that Palmerston can desire nothing so much as that Lord 
John should take the lead in opposing the India Bill, and 
that he should support him, because in that case, and the 
defeat of the bill by a large majority, which probably would 
happen, and the Government going out, he would infallibly 
be sent for again, and in reforming his Government he would 
no doubt invite Lord John to join it, but this would only 
lead to a fresh series of difficulties, and most likely to a long 
course of abortive negotiations. How tlie junction between 
the two leaders is to be effected it is difficult to conceive, al- 



432 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XYI 

though there are several ways in which it might be brought 
about, if they were disposed to make mutual concessions. 
The starting point might be the complete union of the whole 
Whig and Liberal party, which all profess to desire most 
anxiously, and which the mutual antipathies and disagree- 
ments of the two leaders at present prevent. If Palmerston 
would consent to go to the House of Lords as Premier, and 
to leave Lord John with a high office (India, for example) as 
leader in the House of Commons, something might be done. 
Lord John might possibly be induced to cede his claim to 
the highest place on this condition, but it is not unlikely 
that he would require more than that : first, that Clarendon 
should not be at the Foreign Office, which Palmerston would 
no doubt not agree to ; and secondly, certain places and seats 
in the Cabinet for the Peelites, who have recently consented 
to follow his standard and cast their own lots with his. Then 
various complications present themselves connected with 
these questions. 

April 4dh. — The Duke of Bedford has written to Lady 
Derby that her lord must make up his mind to be beaten on 
his India Bill, but that he hopes he will not think it neces- 
sary to resign upon it when he is. Brougham writes from 
Paris that the feeling against us there has been greatly exag- 
gerated, that the Emperor alone is friendly to us, but that 
though the general sentiment is unfriendly, nobody dreams 
of going to war with us, nor indeed with any other Power. 

April 8fh. — Derby made a striking speech at the Mansion 
House the other night, which has been severely ridiculed by 
the "Times," but which nevertheless contained a good deal 
of truth. He said that there were very few questions nowa- 
days in which different Governments could act differently, 
and he invited not only every sort of criticism, but of sug- 
gestion, as to the Indian Bills and measures now before Par- 
liament. The inference deducible from his sjoeech (and in 
which I have since been confirmed) is that, happen what 
may, he does not mean to resign, and that the Government 
will not go out, unless they are positively turned out. They 
say this unlucky India Bill was the sole work of Ellen- 
borough, and that the democratic clauses are the result of an 
old fancy of his, but nobody can be desirous of admitting 
the paternity of such a measure. 

April ihth. — I have been confined to the house for 
several days, and unable to mix in the world and hear 



1858.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S RESOLUTIONS. 433 

what is going on, but have seen enough to know that there 
is nothing but confusion, perplexity, and irritation in the 
political world. During the brief recess everybody was 
speculating about what would be done when Parliament met 
again, what was to be the fate of the rival India Bills, and 
how far the Government would be affected by the result of 
contests concerning them. The Government hangers-on 
affected to be very well satisfied with the state of affairs, and 
proclaimed their intention not to go out whatever might 
haf)pen with regard to their bills. The Palmerstonians evi- 
dently expected that such storms would arise as the Govern- 
ment' would not be able to weather, and that something 
would turn up advantageous to them. John Russell, who 
must be doing something, said that the Government bill 
was so bad that no alterations could make it tolerable, and 
that he was disposed to move some Resolutions, which 
might be the foundation of a really good measure. He con- 
cocted these Resolutions, and wrote word to the Duke that 
" he had written to George Lewis and to Macaulay, who 
both approved of his scheme." Accordingly, as soon as 
Parliament met he announced that Resolutions ought to be 
drawn up, and that he was ready to draw them up. This 
produced great excitement. The Government saw in this 
move a plank of safety for themselves, and Disraeli said he 
was ready to receive Lord John's Resolutions, or to draw up 
Resolutions of his own ; many people said that if Resolutions 
were to be drawn up at all, it ought to be by Government, 
and not by any independent member, and it was eventually 
settled that Disraeli was to do it. Everybody saw that this, 
as far as it went, was advantageous to the Government ; it 
gave them certainly a reprieve, and possibly an opportunity 
of ridding themselves of the Indian difficulty altogether for 
this year, and the consequence was a burst of indignation 
and resentment against Lord John for thus coming to their 
aid as it was called, and concerting such a measure (as he 
was accused of doing) with Disraeli himself. The " Times " 
attacked him with the utmost bitterness, and there is a gen- 
eral clamor against him on the part of the late Government 
and their friends. It is not very easy to divine his true mo- 
tives in this matter. To Judge by the asj^erity with which 
he has spoken of the Government bill, one should not sup- 
pose he could be moved by any auxiliary purpose to them, 
and I do not believe there has been any concert, direct or 

19 



434 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

indirect, between them ; but as all parties agree that the 
Government have derived advantage from his move, the rage 
he has excited is not unreasonable, and the breach between 
him and the Palmerstonian Whigs is much widened, and 
become more difficult to heal. Granville, who I suppose 
speaks the sentiments of his colleagues, says that it is evi- 
dent they could not return to office with the same Govern- 
ment exactly as before, and that it is not desirable to turn 
the Government out at present, even if they could, and he 
thinks it would not be wise to attempt to carry Palmerston's 
India Bill, in which it is not sure they should succeed. He 
thinks there was concert between Lord John and Disraeli, 
not direct, but through Horsman, and he says that George 
Lewis, so far from approving his Eesolutions, strongly pro- 
tested against them ; but it is not impossible to reconcile 
two statements which seem at first sight to be directly op- 
posed to each otlier. Lord John says he imparted to George 
Lewis and Macaulay his scheme {i. e. of drawing up Eesolu- 
tions), not the Eesolutions themselves, while George Lewis 
seems to deny approval of the Eesolutions ; but this is only 
a possible solution of the apparent contradictions. 

I told Granville that all that was now happening only 
served to confirm my original opinion, that they were wrong 
in resigning, and that there was no occasion for their doing 
so, and they now saw how difficult it was, when they had let 
this Government in, to get them out again, and he not only 
had not a word to say in reply, but all he did was rather 
indicative of concurrence in my opinion. In the most palmy 
days of party government, and when the old traditions with 
regard to the relations of Government with the House of 
Commons were in full force, it was not considered as an in- 
variable and unavoidable necessity that a Government when 
beaten on an important question must go out. I recollect 
the Government of the day in 1815 being beaten on the In- 
come Tax, without therefore resigning, and it is so obvious 
that the vote on the French despatch did not imply any 
general withdrawal of confidence and support, that I never 
shall believe they would have resigned as they did unless 
they had thought they should gain more strength and power 
by doing so without losing their places, and consequently 
that they were caught in a trap of their own setting. 

April 24:th. — The events of the past week have been 
Dis-raeli's Budget, Avhich has been received with favor and 



1858.] THE DUKE OF BEDFORD'S VIEWS. 435 

excited no opposition in any quarter, and the withdrawal of 
the Government India Bill, which was done by Disraeli, 
rather unwillingly ; but their maxim seems to be "anything 
for a quiet life," and they agree to whatever is proposed or 
opposed in any influential quarter. The general notion is 
that they are safe for this session, but it is a very inglorious 
safety. It now appears as if they would scramble and hobble 
on until the whole Liberal party is reunited, and a recon- 
ciliation effected between Palmerston and John Eussell, to 
bring about which it is clear that much exertion is being 
made. 

While I was at Newmarket this week I had several 
letters from the- Duke of Bedford, all bearing upon this 
matter. He writes on the 16th : " I hear that the feeling 
against John has been very strong and that lies have been 
told as usual. It is said that he has been in communication 
with Derby indirectly, through Lady Derby, and that he 
wrote to Disraeli. If he did, it was only on a matter of 
ordinary courtesy, to ask him to postpone the second read- 
ing of the India Bill, to give time for a different course 
which he intended to suggest and did the first day the 
House met. John has been left by circumstances or by his 
old colleagues to pursue his own independent course, and 
ought not to be found fault with, if he pursued that course, 
as he did in this instance, after conferring with the friends 
I named to you, and receiving their approval. No doubt his 
move was very successful to the Government, and helped 
them out of an enormous difficulty, but I can see no harm in 
that." There was a great deal more about the communica- 
tions between Lord John and George Lewis, which now only 
signifies as demonstrating the extreme difficulty of getting 
at the truth. It is evident that there is a great desire on 
the part of the Whigs to bring about a reunion with Lord 
John and those who follow him, in order to get the Govern- 
ment out, for which the rank and file are getting more and 
more impatient. Lewis told me last night that they are 
holding constant Cabinets, which always ended with the 
same resolution, not to do anything, or to make any serious 
attack ; and they have made up their minds to acquiesce in 
Derby's going on through this session ; but nothing can ex- 
ceed "the contempt and aversion with which Lewis speaks of 
the Government and of all their proceedings, certainly not 
without reason, for there is no example of any Government 



436 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XYI. 

consenting to hold office on terms so humiliating, and to 
such a powerless existence. They dare not originate any- 
thing, and they submit to everything that anybody proposes 
or suggests, Laving seemingly no object but that of currying 
favor, and avoiding to give offence. The way in which 
Disraeli withdrew his India Bill upon a few words spoken 
by John Russell is a curious exemplification of their forlorn 
state. 

Lord Cowley, whom I saw yesterday, is desirous, like 
everybody else, to see the end of this feeble rule ; but he 
thinks Palmerston's disposition is very unbending, and 
doubts his and Lord John's being brought together, not- 
withstanding that Lady Palmerston tells the Duke of 
Bedford that Palmerston "has a great affection for John." 
Cowley talked a great deal about French affairs and the 
state of things between the two countries, and he exj)ressed 
great apprehensions lest Malmesbury should make to many 
concessions to the French G-overnment,^ which, however, he 
meant to prevent if he could. He mentioned one or two 
odd things. First of all he told me that he had foreseen all 
the effects produced by the ^yale3wski letter, and had done 
all he could to prevent its being sent, and he was amazed at 
Clarendon having taken it so quietly, and that he should 
have seen no impropriety or danger in it, but on the contrary 
thought it would do good. Then with regard to Walewski's 
other letter in reply to Malmesbury, wliich, objectionable 
as it was, had been greatly softened from the original draft, 
had it been despatched as at first composed by Walewski, he 
said it would have raised an inextinguishable flame here. 
Cowley said that the Emperor's nerves were shaken to pieces 
by the attentat, and he was greatly changed. 

April 29th. — Every day the position of the Government 
gets worse and worse. The disposition there was to give 
them a fair opportunity of carrying on public affairs as well 
as they could has given way to disgust and contempt at 
their blundering and stupidity, and those who have all along 
resented their attempt to hold office at all are becoming 
more impatient and more anxious to turn them out. There 

1 [The publication of Lord Malmesbury' s autobiography has proved that he 
was not at all disposed to make any undue concessions to the French Govern- 
ment, and that he acted as long as this Administration lasted in strict union 
with Lord Cowley. The Emperor Napoleon complained that his old friend as- 
sumed too stern an attitude toward France in the course of the events which fol- 
lowed in the next few months and led to the Italian War.] 



1858.] GLADSTONE ATTACKS PALMERSTON. 437 

is a very temperate, but very just, article in the " Times " to- 
day, wliicli contains all that is to be said on the subject, 
stated without bitterness or exaggeration. The Whigs, how- 
ever, seem aware that it is not expedient to push nuitters to 
extremity, and to force their resignation, until the quarrels 
of the Liberal party are made up, and till Palmcrston and 
John Russell are brought together and prepared to join in 
taking office, and to elfect this object the most strenuous 
efforts are making. What the pacilicators aim at is, that 
Palmerston should go as Premier to the House of Lords, and 
leave Lord John to lead the House of Commons. This is 
the most reasonable compromise, and one which ought to 
be satisfactory to both ; but even if this leading condition 
were agreed to, it is not certain that there might not be 
othei's presenting great obstacles to the union, such as 
whether Lord John would agree to join without bringing a 
certain number of men with him, and whether Palmerston 
would consent to exclude so many of his former Cabinet to 
make room for them. Graham, Lord John would, I sup- 
pose, certainly insist upon ; Gladstone would probably be no 
party to any arrangement, and he has recently evinced his 
extreme antipathy to Palmerston by a bitter though able 
review in the "Quarterly" on France and the late Ministry, 
in which he attacks Palmerston with extraordinary asperity. 

Ever since he resigned Palmerston has been very active 
in the House of Commons, and kept himself constantly be- 
fore the public, evidently with the object of recovering his 
former popularity as much as possible, and he made a very 
clever and lively speech two nights ago, which his friends 
praise uj) to the skies. 

I met Derby in the Park yesterday, and soon after the 
Chancellor in Piccadilly, and had some talk with both of 
them. They were neither of them in a very sanguine mood, 
and apparently well aware of the precariousness of their 
position. Derby attributed the state of affairs, which he 
owned was very bad, to the caprice and perverseness of the 
House of Commons, which he said was unmanageable. I 
did not, as I might have done, tell him that he had no right 
to complain of this House, and that it was the mismanage- 
ment of his own colleagues which was the cause of the evil. 
Lyndhurst made an extraordinary speech on the Jew Bill on 
Tuesday night. 

May 1st. — Ellice flattered himself that he could get up a 



438 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOKIA. [Chap. XVI. 

party in the House of Commons whicli would haye power 
enough to stop the progress of the Indian measure, and to 
lead to a better measure next year, as well as to the forma- 
tion of a Government ; and in pursuance of this scheme it 
was arranged that Lord Harry Vane should move the post- 
ponement of Indian legislation, and Ellice told me they 
should be supported by 150, and many men of note. All 
this went off in smoke last night. After a short debate the 
motion was rejected by an immense majority, and Ellice 
could only muster 55 people. 

The hopes of those who are trying to bring Lord John 
and Palmerston together are damped by a letter I have 
received (and shown to George Byng) from the Duke of 
Bedford, who says : "I saw much of Palmerston and Lady 
Palmerston last week, but could see no disposition to reunion, 
although we came to that point more than once. I suggested 
to Lady Palmerston the wish of many that Palmerston should 
go to the House of Lords. She said that Palmerston had 
always entertained a great dislike to it, and hinted, or more 
than hinted, that he would place no confidence in John as 
leader of the House of Commons." I went to hear Professor 
Owen lecture yesterday. His style of lecturing is very good, 
but the subject (vertebrated animals) was too scientific for 
my ignorance. 

Savernake, May 11th. — I have been out of town all the 
last week, at Chester, and came here on Saturday. While I 
was at Chester the Duke of Bedford sent me a note he had 
received from Lord John, which looked like the beginning 
of a rapprochement between him and Palmerston, though it 
did not amount to a great deal, and may lead to nothing. I 
was obliged to return it, and was too much occupied to copy 
the contents of it here. I refer so often to this subject, be- 
cause it ajDpears to be the one upon which the existence of 
the present Government depends, for as soon as the Liberals 
can come to an understanding and act in concert, the doom 
of the Ministry will be sealed. Without their committing 
any great faults they seem to be falling into greater con- 
tempt every day. 

The only point of attack the Opposition have found has 
been the affair of Canning's recent proclamation.^ Canning 

1 [The Proclamation of March 3, addressed to the chiefs and people of Oude, 
is here referred to. It was strongly opposed and attacked as a wholesale meas- 
ure of confiscation, before the motives and policy of the act were understood; 



1808.] LITTLECOTE HOUSE. 439 

has not been lucky in his Proclamations, the first having 
been severely criticised for its clemency, and the second for 
its severity. The complaint against the Government is for 
having made public their disapproval of it and their censure 
of his acts. 1 think their disapprobation quite right, and 
that they were right in conveying it to Canning, but they 
might have refused to express any opinion or to publish or 
half publish any of the correspondence that passed, though 
it cannot be doubted that such refusal would have drawn 
upon them all sorts of attacks and reproaches, but it would 
have been the proper course for them to adojDt. It is, how- 
ever, certainly premature to express any definite opinion upon 
an act of which we are not yet furnished with an explana- 
tion. 

I went yesterday to see Littlecote House, Mr. Popham's, 
a very curious, interesting old house, and the scene of the 
Wild Dayrell story and murder, the tradition of which has 
been often narrated, but the truth never ascertained. 1 saw 
all the rooms, including the one in which the murder is 
supposed to have been committed, but they have been much 
altered. There is a fine old hall, hung round with the 
armor and buff coats of Colonel Popham's troopers, and it 
is a remarkable fact that they are all so small that no man 
of ordinary size could wear them, a clear proof that the 
present generation are much bigger than our ancestors of 
two centuries ago. King William III. slept at Littlecote 
for two or three nights in 1689 (while King James was at 
Salisbury), and he seems to have left behind him a good many 
papers, which have ever since been preserved in the house. 
There is also a large collection of miscellaneous letters of the 
time of the Civil War, more or less curious, which were pre- 
served by a lucky accident. Popham told me that his father 
told him there was a mass of papers in an old box under the 
roof of the house which had better be destroyed. His son 
went up for the purpose, and discovered the contents of the 
box, saved the papers, and had them arranged in a book. I 
urged him to publish them, and I hope he will. I had only 
time to look over a few of them ; as autographs alone they are 
valuable.^ 

but Lord Canning's object was to reinstate tbe talookclars in their possessions 
by a tenure under the British Crown, and subsequent events have shown that 
the resettlement of the conquered province was accomplished without violence 
or injustice.] 

> [Among these Littlecote papers was found the correspondence of Queen 



440 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

London, May Idth. — JSTothing ever was like the state of 
confusion and excitement which has prevailed here during 
the last fortnight, while I have been out of town, particularly 
on the resignation of EUenborough, which took everybody by 
surprise. Before I went away the impression had become 
general that this Government neither could nor ought to be 
endured much longer, and that their repeated and enormous 
blunders made them a nuisance which must be abated. All 
the Liberals (except some of the extreme Eadicals who 
wished them to stay on some time longer), however they dif- 
fered on other questions, were agreed on this. Numerous 
meetings took place, and there was a prodigious activity of 
negotiation, communication, and going backward and for- 
ward, with a view to some general organization and com- 
bination of attack on the unfortunate Ministry. The Duke 
of Bedford was brought up to see what he could do to bring 
Lord John and Palmerston together. Lord John Joined 
heartily in the plan of turning the Government out, and said 
that anything was preferable to leaving them any longer in 
oflBce. Clarendon, who had been informed of Lord John's 
peculiar grudge against him, expressed a wish to have an in- 
terview with him, which the Duke brought about. Lord 
John called on Clarendon, and they had a frank communica- 
tion, so far as Lord John telling him all that he thought 
about foreign affairs, and in what he disagreed with the late 
Government on various questions ; but he did not allude to 
Vienna, which is the real gist of his grievance and the source 
of his hostile feeling, so that with that reticence it is not 
strange that they should have parted much as they met. 
Then Palmerston expressed a wish to have a tete-a-tete con- 
versation with Lord John, which the latter assented to, 
but Palmerston seems to have changed his mind, and to 
have shrunk from it when the opportunity presented itself. 
Charles Wood is the man who has been constantly communi- 
cating with Lord John in behalf of the Whig Cabinet, and 
one day Palmerston came into Charles Wood's while Lord 
John was there. It rained, and Palmerston offered to take 
Lord John home, which he accepted, but nothing passed on 
the way, nor did Palmerston propose to get out and enter 
the house when he might have had the conversation he had 
expressed a wish for, and so it ended. The plans imagined 

Henrietta Maria with Charles I. when she went to Holland to raise money for 
carrying on the Civil War. I am not aware that they have been published.] 



1858] LORD LYNDHURST DISPLEASED. 441 

by mutual friends for effecting apolitical reconciliation have 
vanished into air. Palnierston is resolved not to go to the 
House of Lords, and Lord John is equally determined not 
to take ofHce under him. Palmerston says he cannot trust 
Lord John to lead, the House of Commons, Personally, 
meanwhile, they are ostensibly friends, and Lord John dines 
at Cambridge House to-morrow. Charles Wood asked the 
Duke of Bedford, suj^posing the Government resigned, and 
Palmerston was again sent for, what he thought Palmerston 
ought to do, to which he replied that he ought to accept the 
task, send to Lord John, and on his refusal to join (as he 
probably would), to do the best he could with the materials 
he could command. This advice would, I conceive, be very 
palateable to Palmerston, and it is what he would naturally 
do without any advice. 

I called on Lyndhurst the night I came to town, and 
found him very dissatisfied with the Government, both on 
account of their management and errors, and because they 
have treated him with personal neglect ; he had begged 
Derby and Disraeli to do something for his son-in-law, but 
both put him off with excuses, and would do nothing. He 
is particularly disgusted with the state of the Jew question 
and with the foolish and obstinate conduct of the Govern- 
ment in the House of Lords about it, on which he was very 
eloquent, particularly for their having made a great whip, 
and getting up every man they could lay hands on to come 
and vote, instead of leaving it to take its chance, and at least 
making an open question of it. 

May IQth. — The first great battle took place in the 
House of Lords the night before last, at which I was present.^ 
It was a very spirited fight, and I never recollect seeing the 
House of Lords so crowded both with ladies and lords. 
Pretty good speaking ; Lord Grey's was about the best speech 
and the one I most agreed with. I cannot see the matter of 
Canning's Proclamation and Ellenborough's despatch in the 
light that either side does, and think there is much to be 
said both ways. In the Commons the fight began on Friday 

1 [On May 14, Mr. Cardwell moved a resolution condemning the despatch 
which Lord Ellenboroufrh had written and published, censiirlnir the Proclama- 
tion of the Governor-General of India. A similar resolution was moved by 
Lord Shafte.sbnry in the House of Lords, where it was defeated by a majority of 
nine. The debate in the House of Commons lasted four nis^hts, and in the in- 
terval Lord Ellen boroutjh resigned. Mr. Cardwell then withdrew his motion, 
and the attack on the Government suddenly collapsed.] 



442 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

also, and the most remarkable speech in it was that of Cairns, 
the new Solicitor-General, which was very clever and effect- 
ive. John Russell also spoke very well and vigorously, quite 
in his old style. There is much difference of opinion as to 
the amount of majority, though it is generally expected there 
will be one against Government, and I now hear that they 
have determined positively to dissolve if they are beaten, 
though with little or no chance of their bettering themselves 
by a dissolution. 

May 23d. — The excitement of Epsom during the whole 
of last week was not greater than that which prevailed in 
London during the great debates in the House of Commons, 
the result of which, on Thursday night, produced such un- 
usual surprise, with so much triamj)h on one side and such 
mortification and disappointment on the other. In my long 
experience I do not recollect to have seen so much political 
bitterness and violence (except perhaps during the great con- 
tests of the Catholic question and Reform), and certainly 
there never was a great Parliamentary battle distinguished 
by so much uncertainty and so many vicissitudes, and in 
which the end corresponded so little with the beginning and 
with the general expectation. For a considerable time not 
only all the late Cabinet and their supporters, but the whole 
body of Whigs, both Palmerstonians and Russellites, had 
been growing more and more impatient of the Derby Govern- 
ment, and they were considering how they could make a final 
and irresistible attack upon them, and for the last three weeks 
there had been nothing but negotiations and pourparlers to 
effect a coalition between the rival leaders and their friends 
for the purpose of their at least uniting in one great hostile 
vote, which should drive the Derbyites to resignation or dis- 
solution, hoping and expecting that their majority would be 
so large as to put the latter out of the question. The occa- 
sion seemed to present itself upon Ellenborough's letter to 
Canning censuring his Proclamation. A meeting took place 
at Cambridge House, when the whole plan was matured, 
and though John Russell did not attend it, he agreed to be 
a party to the Motion of Censure. Shaftesbury was put 
forward in the Lords, and Cardwell was induced to take 
the initiative in the House of Commons. Nobody doubted 
of success, and the only question was (much debated and 
betted upon) by how many the Government would be beaten. 
Meanwhile Ellenborough resigned, which gave a new aspect 



1858.] MR. CARD WELL WITHDRAWS HIS MOTION. 443 

to the affair, and the Government got a small majority in 
the Lords. It was evident that no popularity attached to 
the motion, and many of the Liberals were of opinion that 
upon Ellenborough's resignation the affair ought to drop 
and the motion be withdrawn. But the die was cast, the 
Palmerstonians were quite confident and eager for the fray, 
and would not hear of stopping in their career. The debate 
began, the speaking being all along better on the Govern- 
ment side, and every day their prospects as to the division 
appeared to be mending and public opinion more and more 
inclining against the Opposition and the Proclamation, 
though still blaming Ellenborough's letter. If the debate 
had ended on Tuesday as was expected, Government would 
probably have been beaten, but Sir Charles Napier had got 
Tuesday, and would not give it up, so that the decision 
was of necessity adjourned : the delay was all in favor of 
the Government, and on Thursday night arrived the Indian 
despatches with Canning's explanations and the Outram 
correspondence, which was immediately published, and 
although Palmerston and his friends and newspapers pre- 
tended that they considered these documents favorable to 
their cause, the general impression was rather the other 
way. All this time the Government people found their cause 
improving, and their chances in the division mending, and 
though their enemies still pretended to be certain of success, 
and I was told on Thursday night that I might safely lay 
any odds on their having a majority, the best informed of 
them in the House of Commons began to see danger, and at 
last they confessed only to expect a bare majority, and the 
Speaker told somebody it was very likely he should have to 
give a casting vote. The Radicals, or those of them who 
professed to be adherents of the Whig Cabinet, strongly 
urged the withdrawal of Card well's motion, and at last on 
the Thursday seem to have made up their minds that defeat 
in some shape was inevitable, and that the best thing left for 
them to do was to get rid of the debate in any way they 
could. Henry Lennox called on me yesterday morning to 
tell me what had passed, to this effect : that on Friday 
Disraeli had received a letter from Cardwell, in which he 
asked if Disraeli would allow him to withdraw his motion, 
and subsequently Palmerston desired to confer with him, 
when he put the same question to him, to which (according 
to Henry Lennox's statement) Disraeli replied, in a very 



444 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVL 

lofty tone, that he would hear of nothing which could pos- 
sibly be construed into any admission on their part of 
their meriting any part of the censure which the Opposition 
had been laboring to cast upon them. The Government 
had by this time ascertained that the Opposition had made 
their minds up to back out of the motion as best they might, 
and their retreat was not very cleverly done, beginning with 
Cardwell's refusal to withdraw, and ending with Palmerston's 
recommendation to him to yield, which was a got up thing. 
The scene in the House was most extraordinary, and particu- 
larly mortifying to Palmerston, who saw himself involved in 
inevitable defeat,- and without the power of rallying again for 
some time. If anybody could be excused for the impatience 
which brought him and his party into this dilemma, it was 
Palmerston, who in his seventy fourth year, and resolved to 
die in harness if he could, had no time to lose. This affair has 
been the battle of Marengo of political warfare. The Whigs 
appeared to be victorious, and carrying everything before 
them up to the eleventh hour, and then came a sudden turn 
of affairs, and the promise of victory was turned into rout 
and disaster. The campaign is lost, and for the rest of this 
session the Government have it all their own way. The 
Whigs are in the condition of a defeated army, who require 
to be completely reorganized and re-formed before they can 
take the field again. The general resentment and mortifica- 
tion are extreme. They have naturally lost all confidence in 
their leaders, and they are now all ready to complain of the 
tactics of which they entirely approved till they found that 
defeat had been the consequence of their adoption. It is 
not probable that Palmerston and his late Cabinet will 
attemjrt anything more during this session, and everything 
is in such a state of confusion and uncertainty that the best 
thing they can do is to remain quiet, merely in a state of 
watchfulness, and to see what the volvenda dies may bring 
about in the course of the next six months, leaving the 
Derbyites unmolested during that time. Derby will get 
Gladstone if possible to take the India Board, and this will 
be the best thing that can happen. His natural course is to 
be at the head of a Conservative Government, and he may, if 
he acts with prudence, be the means of raising that party 
to something like dignity and authority, and emancipating 
it from its dependence on the discreditable and insincere 
support of the Kadicals. 



1858.] UNPOPULARITY OF LOPvD PALMERSTON. 445 

June llth. — At Cleveden, at Ascot, and at Hatchford all 
the past week, during which I heard little or nothing about 
politics. The matter which made the most stir was Disraeli's 
impudent and mendacious speech at Slough, in which he 
bitterly attacked the last Ministry and glorified his own. 
The AVhigs were stung to madness, and two or three nights 
were occupied in both Houses, principally, by Palmerston and 
Clarendon, in answering this speech, and demonstrating its 
falsehood. The proceeding was not very dignified, andthey 
might just as well have left it alone, particularly as nobody 
cared much about what Disraeli said ; but there was so little 
sympathy for the ex-Ministers, that no indignation was ex- 
cited by it, except among themselves and their immediate 
friends. There seems little chance now of anything but a 
desultory warfare going on in the House of Commons, 
without any serious attack on the Government, who seem 
safe for this session at least. The most interesting event 
last week was the virtual settlement of the eternal Jew 
Question, which the House of Lords sulkily acquiesced in. 
It was very desirable for many reasons to put an end to it. 

Normmi Court, June l&tJi. — Every day it appears more 
and more evident that Palmerston's political career is draw- 
ing to a close, and he alone seems blind to the signs which 
denote it. Few things are stranger than the violent reaction 
which has deprived him of his popularity, and made him an 
object of bitter aversion to a considerable part of the Liberals, 
not only to ?uch men as Graham and Bright, but even to 
many of his former followers and adherents. I cannot say I 
am sorry for it, but I do in fairness think that this reaction 
is overdone and exaggerated, and the hostility to Palmerston 
greater than there is any reason for. I do not wish to see 
him again at the head of affairs, but I should be sorry to see 
a man so distingushed, who has been exalted so high, and 
who has many good qualities, end his life, or at least his 
political career, under circumstances of mortification and 
humiliation. If this happens it will be owing principally to 
his obstinacy in persisting in leading a party who have no 
longer any mind to be led by him, and the insatiable ambition 
which cannot brook the notion of retirement at any time of 
life. If he was wise, and was not blinded by vanity and the 
flattery of his hangers-on, he would take a jiister and clearer 
view of his position, and supposing him still intent on play- 
ing the political game, he would endeavor to act a part as 



416 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVL 

nearly like that whicli Peel acted in his last years as the dif- 
ference of circumstances would admit. 

But the determination to have no more to do with Palra- 
erston has not made the Whigs and Liberals more disposed 
to throw themselves into the arms of Lord John, and as yet, 
so far from any appearance of a reorganization of the Lib- 
eral party, they seem more disunited and scattered than 
ever. Even Lord John and Graham, who seemed to be most 
closely allied, are now continually voting diiferent ways ; and 
as to the other leading men, it is impossible to predict how 
they will vote on any subject that comes before Parliament. 
In this state of confusion many Liberal-Conservatives are 
beginning to wish for the consolidation of the Government, 
and are inclining to support it, if the Government itself will 
give them an opportunity of doing so, by asserting their own 
independence as a Conservative Government, and will leave 
ofE truckling to the Radicals, by accepting measures which 
everyone knows to be repugnant to their feelings and opin- 
ions, and inconsistent with the principles they have always 
professed. Men who supported Palmerston's Government 
because they considered it to be a Conservative one, foresee 
that before long parties must assume the character of Radi- 
cal and Conservative, the Whigs being merged in the former, 
and that the party of the present Government forms the only 
force capable of resisting the Whig and Radical union when 
it takes place, and that their best course will be to join the 
Conservative camp, if the presnt Government do not, by un- 
principled and inconsistent concessions for the sake of an 
easy official existence, render it impossible for them to do so. 
I do not know to what extent this feeling prevails, but I be- 
lieve it is extending, and Lord St. Germans, who is a very 
staunch friend to the late Government, and latterly belonged 
to them, told me the other day that Granville had great 
difficulty in keeping his people together. Ashburton is very 
warm and eager in this sense, and though neither of these 
men have much weight, I have no doubt they are exponents 
of the sentiments of a much larger number. I called on 
Lyndhurst on Monday Evening, and talked this question 
over with him, and entreated him to speak to Derby upon it. 
We were very well agreed, and he said he would endeavor to 
talk to Derby, but he is rather embarrassed, because he does 
not know what Derby is going to do about the Jew Bill, 
there being some strange signs of an intention on the part 



1S58.] MINISTERS GAIN GROUND. 447 

of Derby to throw it over after all, though this would be so 
extremely foolish, as well as so false and dishonorable, that I 
cannot believe it is in his contemplation, 

June 22(1. — During the week I passed at Norman Court 
the Government here were gaining ground. They had two 
good divisions in the House of Commons, sufficient to prove 
that if they cannot command a majority here, tliey have at 
least as much influence and power and are as well supported 
as any other leader or party. Then the publication of the 
Cagliari papers, and the way in which that question was 
settled, was a real triumph to the Foreign Office, and ac- 
knowledged to be so by the whole Press of every shade, and 
by everybody in Parliament, not excepting the ex-Ministers 
themselves. They are undoubtedly gaining strength, while 
the chances of another Palmerston Government became more 
and more faint and remote. All information coincides in 
representing Palmerston's unpopularity as great and gen- 
eral, certainly the most extraordinary change that ever took 
place in so short a time. The Duke of Bedford writes to 
me from Endsleigh : "I hear of only one general feeling 
against Palmerston in the West. What a change since this 
time last year ! " 

I had a long talk with Tom Baring at Norman Court 
about the Government, their proceedings and their pros- 
pects, and we agreed entirely on the subject. I wanted him 
to speak to some of his friends the ministers, and to en- 
deavor to get them to act a bolder and more consistent part 
as a Conservative Government, and he urged me to speak to 
Disraeli, which I told him I would do, and only refrained 
from doubting if I could do any real good with him. The 
Government are certainly placed in a difficult position. The 
Government and party whom they replaced were determined 
to thrust them out again as soon as possible, and their weak- 
ness and danger drove them into a quasi-alliance with the 
Eadicals, or at least into so much deference and so many 
concessions to Radicals and Ultra-Liberals, that the Whigs, 
who were baffled and kept out by this policy, held them up 
to bitter scorn and reproach for acting in this manner, and 
now, when they agree to any measure with regard to which 
concession is reasonable and prudent, they are always assailed 
with the same reproaches instead of getting credit for so do- 
ing. To be sure they often contrive to make their conces- 
sions in such a way as to deprive them of all grace and 



448 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. XVI. 

merit. This has been pre-eminently the case with the Jew 
Bill. 

Among the events of last week one of the most interest- 
ing was the Queen's visit to Birmingham, where she was 
received by the v/liole of that enormous population with an 
enthusiasm which is said to have exceeded all that was ever 
displayed in her former receptions at Manchester or else- 
where. It is impossible not to regard such manifestations 
as both significant and important. They evince a disposi- 
tion in those masses of the pojaulation in which, if anywhere, 
the seeds of Eadicalism are supposed to lurk, most favorable 
to the Conservative cause, by which I mean not to this or 
that party, but to the Monarchy and the Constitution under 
which we are living and flourishing, and which we may be- 
lieve to be still dear to the hearts of the people of this 
country. This great fact lends some force to the notion 
entertained by many political thinkers, that there is more 
danger in conferring political power on the middle classes 
than in extending it far beneath them, and in point of fact 
that there is so little to be apprehended from the extension 
of the suffrage, that universal suffrage itself would be in- 
nocuous. Among the concessions of last week was the pass- 
ing of Locke King's Bill for abolishing a property qualifica- 
tion, which was done with hardly any opposition. There 
can be no doubt that the practice was a mere sham, and that 
a property qualification was very often a fiction or a fraud, 
and snch being the case, that it was useless to keep up the 
distinction ; bxit it struck me, though I do not find that it 
occurred to anybody else, that the abolition might sooner or 
later have an indirect influence upon the question of the 
suffrage, for it may be urged, not without plausibility, that 
if it be held no longer necessary that a representative should 
have any property whatever, there is great inconsistency in 
requiring that the elector should have a certain amount of 
property to entitle him to vote. 

Ju7ie 26th. — The India Bill appears now likely to pass 
rather rapidly and in the shape presented by the Govern- 
ment. Everybody is tired to death of the subject and anx- 
ious to have it over, and the general impatience is increased 
by alarm at the foul state of the. Thames, which (long dis- 
cussed in a negligent way, and without much public atten- 
tion or' care) has suddenly assumed vast proportions, and is 
become an object of general interest and apprehension. 



1858.] ADMISSION OF THE JEWS TO PARLIAMENT. 449 

This makes the House of Commons eager to finish its busi- 
ness as expeditiously as it can, and members impatient to 
betake themselves to a purer and safer atmosphere. The 
Government continues to maintain its ascendency there, and 
last night Palmcrston was beaten by considerable majorities 
on two amendments he moved to the India Bill. 

The Chancellor has drawn down great obloquy on him- 
self by a speech which he made at the Mansion House a 
night or two ago. Derby's illness having prevented his 
going to the dinner (given to the Ministers), Thesiger had 
to speak for him, and he made the very worst, most injudi- 
cious, and unbecoming speech which was ever delivered on 
such an occasion. No rule is more established than that 
politics are not to b3 introduced at these dinners, and yet 
his speech was nothing but a political song of triumph and 
glorification of his own Government and colleagues, as some- 
body said, a counterpart (though less offensive one) of Dis- 
raeli's Slough speech. All their heads are turned, and the 
Chancellor's as much or more than any. 

Then there is a grand mess about the Jew question, 
which is hung up in a sort of abeyance in consequence of 
Derby's not being able to come down to the House of Lords. 
From the moment that Derby took upon himself to an- 
nounce his abandonment of the contest, which he did not 
frankly and fully, but sulkily and reluctantly, he seems to 
have half repented of what he did, and to have, if not made, 
permitted and connived at, all sorts of difficulties and obsta- 
cles, while his subordinates and some of his colleagues have 
interposed to prevent or delay the final settlement. It is 
difficult to believe that he himself ever cared a straw about 
the Jew question, or that his opposition had any motive ex- 
cept that of pleasing the bigoted and narrow-minded of his 
party. His good sense saw that the moment was come when 
surrender was the best policy if not an absolute necessity, 
and having given utterance to this conviction, no doubt to 
the enormous disgust of many of his followers, it was his 
interest to get rid of the question as quickly as possible, and 
dismiss what as long as it remained on the tapis in any shape 
was a source of disagreement and ill-humor between him 
and his party. It is marvellous, therefore, that so clever a 
man should have acted so foolish a part as he has done. 
Having disgusted his own party by his concession, he is now 
disgusting everybody else and all other parties by his hesita- 



450 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

tion and pusillanimity in carrying it out, and, with an ab- 
sence of dignity and firmness which is utterly unworthy of 
the high position he holds, he has permitted his Chancellor 
and some half-dozen subordinate members of his Government 
to do all they can to thwart the settlement of the question, 
and prolong the exclusion of the Jews. Instead of taking 
the matter into his own hands, and dealing with it accord- 
ing to the plain suggestions of common sense and sound 
policy, he has ])ermitted a sort of little conspiracy to go on, 
which is exceedingly likely to bring about a collision between 
the two Houses, and to raise a flame in the House of Com- 
mons the consequences of which may be more serious to the 
Government than any one contemplates. Lyndhurst, whose 
wise head is provoked and disgusted to the last degree at all 
these proceedings, has bitterly complained of them, and at 
the w^ay in which they have treated him, and the bill he 
drew up for the express purpose of j>utting an end to the 
dilemma. 

July 9th. — After all Derby ran true to the Jew Bill, and 
if he did it in an awkward way, allowances must be made 
for him and for his difficulties with his party, who are full 
of chagrin at being compelled to swallow this obnoxious 
measure. It is on the whole better that the bulk of them 
should have voted in conformity with their notorious opin- 
ions, as it made no difference as to the result, and has a bet- 
ter appearance than if they had whisked round at Derby's 
bidding. The India Bill has passed the House of Commons 
pretty harmoniously, and people seem to think it has been 
licked into a very decent shape. 

The most interesting event of the present day is the mar- 
riage of Lord Overstone's daughter to a Major Lindsay,^ who 
has got the greatest heiress who ever existed, that is, sup- 
posing she inherits her father's prodigious wealth, which 
since old Jones Loyd's death is reckoned to amount to six 
or seven millions. 

July IMli. — After an ineffectual attempt on the part of 
the Opposition to get rid of the *' reasons" of the Lords, 
the Jew Bill has passed, Granville and Lansdowne protest- 
ing against the absurdity of the conduct of Derby with re- 

1 [Afterward Sir Eobert Loyd Lindsay, V. C, raised to the Peerage in 1885 
by the title of Lord Wantasre. The property of Lord Overstone, as disposed of 
by his will, amounted to about three millions, and would pass in reversion to 
the Loyd family on the failure of issue by his daughter.] 



1858.] CONTINUED WARFARE IN INDIA. 451 

gard to it. It is remarkable that though Lord Lansdowne 
has for some time appeared mueli baisse, his speech was as 
good and sensible a speech as he ever made in his life. As 
t© Derby, as it is impossible that so clever a man as he is 
could willingly act so foolish and even ridiculous a part as he 
has done on this occasion, I conclude that he felt obliged to 
do what he has done in order to avoid quarrelling with his own 
friends, who without doubt are intensely disgusted at the 
bitter pill he has obliged them to swallow, and as he knows 
best what he can venture with tbem and what not, it is 
more reasonable to accept the measure on his own terms 
than to be angry with him for the way in which he has con- 
trived it. 

The last accounts from India are far from satisfactory, 
and the apprehensions which I long ago felt and expressed, 
but which I had begun to think unfounded, seem not un- 
likely to be realised. It is clear that the contest is neither 
over nor drawing to a close. Our danger consists in the 
swarms of armed and hostile natives, and in the climate. 
The rebels we always beat when we can grapple with them, 
but we cannot crush and subdue them. They gather to- 
gether and assail our people when a good opportunity pre- 
sents itself, and when they are repulsed (as is always the 
case) their masses are dissolved and scattered abroad, with- 
out any material diminution of their numbers, and ready 
to assemble and attack any other vulnerable point, while 
the British troops are harassed to death by unceasing pur- 
suits of foes so much more nimble and able to endure 
the climate than themselves. This species of warfare must 
be disheartening and disgusting, and it involves a consump- 
tion of life requiring more reinforcements than we can sup- 
ply. All the accounts we receive concur in the insufficiency 
of the European force, and the necessity of fresh sup- 
plies. One letter I saw yesterday talks of 40,000 men being 
requisite. 

Pehmrtli, July Z\d. — I came here from Good wood, not 
having been here for twenty years, and am rather glad to see 
once more a place where I passed so much of my time in my 
younger days. I think it is the finest house I have ever 
seen, and its collection of pictures is unrivalled for number, 
beauty, and interest. Parliament is to be up on Monday, 
and the Council for the prorogation is to take place to-day 
at Osborne. 



453 REIGN 0¥ QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. 

I met Brunnow at Goodwood, who talked over the politi- 
cal events of the Eussian war, and assured me that the part 
he liad played in it had been much misrepresented, that he 
had never been misled by Aberdeen, nor had he ever misled 
the Emperor Nicholas, but on the contrary had told him, 
without any disguise, the real state of aSairs, and the almost 
certainty that war would ensue, that he was well aware him- 
self, and had impressed on his master, that although Aber- 
deen was most anxious to avoid war, he had no power to do 
so, and that though he was nominally Prime Minister, he 
was destitute of the authority of one. He said the Emperor 
was quite sincere in all he had said to Hamilton Seymour, 
and if we had had at Petersburg a minister with more tact 
and judgment, war would not have taken place. He (Brun- 
nowj had urged Aberdeen to send Granville there for the 
purpose, who, he thinks, would have done very well, and of 
whom he has a high opinion. 

London, August loth. — I returned to town from Pet- 
worth last Monday week, and on Tuesday a fit of gout came 
on, which has laid me up ever since, leaving me no energy 
to do anything, and least of all to execute the purpose I 
entertained of sketching the past session of Parliament, 
and the curious events which it evolved ; the decline and 
fall of Palmerston and his Government, the advent of Derby, 
and the vicissitudes of his career, deserve a narrative which 
might, if well handled by some well-informed writer, be 
made very interesting : but I am conscious of my own unfit- 
ness and dare not attempt it. It is in truth time for me to 
leave off keeping a journal, for by degrees I have lost the 
habit of communicating with all the people from whom I 
have been in the habit of obtaining political information, 
and I know nothing worth recording. 



1858.] LOED JOHN RUSSELL AND LORD STANLEY. 453 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Lord John Russell and Lord Stanley — Lord Palmerston's Leadership — Dissensions in the 
Liberal Party — The Queen and lier .Ministers — Lord 8t;iuley at the India UtKce — The 
Queen's Letter to the Prince of Wales — Keforin Speeches and Projects — Lord Palm- 
erston's Contidence — Prosecution of Count Montaleuibert in France— Lord ('lar- 
eudou's Visit to Coinpiesne — The Emperor's Desiicus on Italy — The Emperor and the 
Pope — Approach of War — Lord Palmerston's Prudent Lang:ua<re — Lord Palmerston's 
Italian Sympathies — The Electric Telegi-ai)h — Opposition in France to the War — T'Le 
Emperor's Prevarication— Opeiiing of Parliament- Debates on Foreign Affairs— Lord 
CJowley's Mission to Vienna— General Opposition to the War — A Keform Bill — Mr. 
Walpole and Mr. Henley resign — Duplicity of the Emperor — Mr. Disraeli's Ketorm Bill 
— The Emperor denies his Warlike Preparations- The Whigs oppose the Keform liiil — 
Anxiety to defeat the Government — Lord Cowley returns from Vienna — War impend- 
ing — Dishonest Conduct by both Parties — Lord Cowley's Account of Cavour's Policy 
— His Mission to Vienna — A Congress Proposed — Indifference to Ketorm — Debates on 
the Ueform Bill — Defeat of the Keform Bill — An Emissary from Cavour. 

Hincliinhrooh, September 5th. — At The Grove last week, 
and on Friday to Osborne for a Council. At the Grove I 
met Charles Villiers and the Duke of Bedford, and had much 
talk with both of tiiem about affairs in general, particularly 
with the Duke about Lord John. He is busily employed in 
concocting a Reform Bill, which he had probably better leave 
alone. He seems to have shown his project to several people, 
and recently to Aberdeen, who wrote him word that he must 
take care not to make it too mild, so much so as to be incon- 
sistent with what he has before proposed. It seems it is 
very mild, for it embraces no Schedule A, no disqualification, 
though a good deal of addition to the constituency. Lord 
John has recently struck up a great intimacy with Lord 
Stanley, and has had him repeatedly down to Pembroke 
Lodge. They take very kindly to each other, and Lord 
John is evidently anxious to cultivate him, for he asked the 
Duke to invite Stanley to go to Woburn, where Lord John 
and all his family are gone to stay. He has been talking a 
great deal to Stanley on past politics, but not on present, 
which would have been rather awkward in their relative 
positions, but he has told Stanley a great deal about the 
political affairs in which he has been engaged, especially with 
respect to the great Reform Bill, its history and incidents, 
which details no doubt were very interesting and useful to 
him, and I am not surprised at Stanley's being much pleased 
with Lord John's society and conversation, for Lord John is 
very agreeable and full of that sort of political information 
in which Stanley takes the greatest delight and interest. 



454 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVII. 

Although Lord John has abstained from making any attempt 
to establish political relations between them, it is highly- 
probable that he should look forward to the possibility of 
some such relations being hereafter established, for in the 
present state of parties a fresh organization and combination 
is almost inevitable, and he may very naturally look forward 
to a combination into which they may both enter, and with 
this view he may be very glad to cultivate a personal and 
social intimacy, and the Duke thinks he has some such view 
in his mind. 

The Duke told me that he was at Lord Broughton's the 
other day, when Broughton said he had been applied to by 
some of Palmerston's former followers to make a representa- 
tion to Palmerston of the present state of affairs and of the 
Liberal party, and to suggest to him the expediency of his 
abdication of the lead of it, and the impossibility of that 
party regaining its ascendency as long as he insisted on con- 
tinuing its chief and retaining his pretensions of returning 
to office. To this request he sent a refusal. He said he en- 
tirely agreed with the people making it, but that it would 
have no effect whatever except that of making a personal 
quarrel between himself and the Palmerstons, with whom he 
had always been on very good terms. I did not learn the 
names of these Whig malcontents. Charles Villiers takes a 
similar view, but does not think that anything would induce 
Palmerston to retire, or that his former colleagues and im- 
mediate adherents would transfer their support to any one 
else as long as he continues to claim it from them. He 
thinks, moreover, and he has very good means of judging, 
that his position and that of John Russell and the impossi- 
bility of their reunion will effectually paralyze the Liberal 
party and secure the possession of office to the present Gov- 
ernment, and that there is on the whole rather a preference 
for the continuation of the present state of things than any 
desire for a change which would bring the Whigs back again. 
He had recently been with George Lewis, and found him at 
length rather disposed to come into my view of the matter 
of their resignation, and to regret it. It is entirely the opin- 
ion of Charles Villiers himself, and he said there would have 
been no difficulty in obtaining from the House of Commons 
a vote of confidence, for there was no wish to turn them out, 
and having administered the rebuke which the Government 
so well merited, the majority would have seized with alacrity 



1858] THE QUEE^^ AND THE MINISTRY. 455 

an occasion to make it up with them, and to show that they 
had no desire to quarrel with them outright. 

The Opposition now found all their hopes on the dissen- 
sions which they expect to arise in the Tory Government 
and camp, which is a very uncertain prospect, and as to 
which they are very likely to be disappointed. The day I 
went to Osborne I had some conversation with Disraeli, who 
gave me to understand that he was well aware the Opposi- 
tion relied on this contingency, but that it was not likely to 
happen. He was aware of Lord Stanley's liaison with Lord 
John, and it was evident that the former had made no secret 
of it, and had told Disraeli that there was (at present) noth- 
ing political in it. Lord John had not said a word about 
his Eeform Bill to Stanley, and Disraeli knew that he had 
not. All this looks like union and confidence between them. 

As far as outward appearances go, the Queen is on very 
good terms with them, for she gave audiences to several of 
them, and long ones. Her conduct at the time of the break- 
up was certainly curious and justifies them in saying that it 
was by her express desire that Derby undertook the forma- 
tion of the Government. If Palmerston and his Cabinet 
were actuated by the motives and expectations which I as- 
cribe to them. Her Majesty certainly did not play into their 
hands in that game. When Derby sat before her all the 
difficulties of his situation, and entreated her again to reflect 
upon it, a word from her would have induced him (without 
having anything to complain of) to throw it back into Palm- 
erston's hands. But the word she did speak was decisive as 
to his going on, and there is no reason to believe that she was 
playing a deep game and calculating on his failure. Nor do 
I believe that she would herself have liked to see Palmerston 
made all powerful. She can hardly have forgotten how in- 
clined he has always been to abuse his power, and how much 
she has suffered from his exercise of it, even when he was 
to a certain degree under control, and although she seemed 
to be quite reconciled to him, and to be anxious for the sta- 
bility of his Government, it is difficult to know what her 
real feelings (or rather those of the Prince) were, and it is 
more than probable that her anxiety for the success of Palm- 
erston's Government was more on account of the members 
of it whom she personally likes, and whom she was very 
reluctant to lose, than out of partiality for the Premier him- 
self. To Clarendon she is really attached, and Granville 



456 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XYII. 

she likes very much ; most of the rest she regarded with 
indifference. 

London, Noveniber Aili. — Two months hare elapsed dur- 
ing which I have felt no inclination to note down anything 
in this book, but now that the Newmarket meetings are at an 
end, and I must needs think of other things, I shall jot down 
the very few things that have come across me in the inter- 
val. When I was at Hillingdon a few weeks ago, I was 
surprised to hear from Charles Mills a glowing panegyric on 
Lord Stanley, who has gained golden opinions and great popu- 
larity at the India House. ^ I was prepared to hear of his 
ability, his indefatigable industry, and his businesslike quali- 
ties ; but I was surprised to hear so much of his courtesy, 
affability, patience, and candor, that he is neither dictatorial 
nor conceited, always ready to listen to other people's 
opinions and advice, and never fancying that he knows 
better than anybody else. I afterward told Jonathan Peel 
what I had heard, and he confirmed the truth of this report, 
and said he was the same in the Cabinet ; but he made me 
comprehend his popularity with the Council by telling me 
that he espoused all their views and interests, and co-operated 
with them in endeavoring to retain certain powers which be- 
longed to the extinct Court of Directors, but which ought, 
as a consequence of the change, to pass into other hands, 
particularly military appointments and matters of military 
control. This received confirmation not long ago from the 
Duke of Cambridge, whom I met at Cheveley, and who gave 
me an account of some matter in which he had received and 
executed certain orders frem the Secretary of War, and soon 
after received a very sharp letter from Stanley calling him 
to account for having interfered in what, he said, belonged 
to the Indian Secretary. The Duke referred him to the War 
Office, so that there seems already a conflict of jurisdiction 
between the two offices. From all this it is apparent that 
we shall have fresh Indian discussions when Parliament 
meets, and there will be a necessity for fresh arrangements 
for the transaction of business. This may seem to be a very 
trifling matter, and not worth noticing, but Lord Stanley is 
so completely tlie man of the present day, and in all human 
probability is destined to play so important and conspicuous 

1 [Lord Stanley, the present Earl of Derby, had succeeded to the Presidency 
of the Board of Control upon the resiguation'of Lord Ellen borough, and -was the 
first Secretary of State for India upon the abolition of the former office.] 



1858.] LORD DERBY'S KEFORM BILL. 457 

a part in political life, that the time may come when any 
details, however minute, of his early career will be deemed 
worthy of recollection. 

I hear the Queen has written a letter to the Prince of 
Wales announcing to him his emancipation from parental 
authority and control, and that it is one of the most admi- 
rable letters that ever were penned. She tells him that he 
may have thought the rule they adopted for his education 
a severe one, but that his welfare was their only object, and 
well knowing to what seductions of flattery he would event- 
ually be exposed, they wished to prepare and strengthen his 
mind against them, that he was now to consider himself his 
own master, and that they should never intrude any advice 
upon him, although always ready to give it him whenever 
he thought fit to seek it. It was a very long letter, all in 
that tone, and it seems to have made a profound impression 
on the Prince, and to have touched his feelings to the quick. 
He brought it to Gerald Wellesley in floods of tears, and the 
effect it produced is a proof of the wisdom which dictated 
its composition. 

November lltli. — The principal topics of interest for the 
last fortnight have been Bright's speeches, the visit of 
Palmerston and Clarendon to Compiegne, the Portuguese 
and French quarrel, and the pamphlet and a}iproaching trial 
of Montalembert, on all of which there is plenty to say. 
Bright's speeches have evidently been a failure, and if they 
produce any effect, it will probably be one rather useful to 
the Government ; but the very ftiilure only proves more 
strongly the bad policy of Derby in bringing forward a 
Reform measure, and how much more safe he would have 
been if he had let it alone. There is a considerable though 
not universal impression that by some means and through 
the operation of the chapter of accidents this Eeform Bill 
will prove fatal to him. Mr. Elwin, the editor of the 
"Quarterly Eeview," told the Duke of Bedford he thought 
so, and that he had been told by a Cabinet Minister tliat 
there had been such serious differences of opinion among 
them on this subject that if the session had been prolonged 
the Government would probably have gone to pieces at that 
time, and Lord John told the Duke that Walpole had inti- 
mated to him something of the same kind. Lord John is 
expecting, and Palmerston is hoping, that the Government 
will fall, and the latter is still confident that his day will 
20 



458 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. L^hap. XVII. 

come again, a confidence which no one else seems to partake 
of. Clarendon, who is the staunchest of Palmerston's allies 
and colleagues, has been endeavoring to dissipate this illu- 
sion and to bring him to take a more accurate view of his 
own position, but without success. ''He cannot see why- 
John Eussell should not again take office under him," and 
it is in vain that Clarendon assures him that nothing on 
earth will induce Lord John to do so. Lord John seems 
disposed to bide his time, and evidently cherishes a hope and 
expectation that the Whig party will return to their alle- 
giance to him and enable him to form another Government. 
He seem to have a liking for Bright, though he does not 
agree with all his views of Eeform. At this moment my 
own belief is that the present Government have the best 
chance in this race for power from the mere fact of their 
being in possession, and from the hopeless disunion and con- 
fusion in which the Whigs and Liberals are plunged. 

Montalembert's paper is admirable, and I agree with al- 
most every part of it, especially about the Indian debate 
and Indian policy, and the causes of Palmerston's extraor- 
dinary fall and the loss of his popularity. His prosecution 
by the Imperial Government is either an enormous mistake 
and political error, or a stroke of policy so deep and refined 
as to be beyond my comprehension. Here everybody re- 
gards it as a great imprudence. 

Decemter 2d. — I returned to town yesterday, having been 
to Badger Hall, thence to Grimstone, then to Ossington, and 
yesterday from HinchinbTook. If I have written nothing it 
is not from want of interesting events worth notice, but 
because I have known and heard nothing more than all the 
world learnt from the newspapers. The chief topics of 
interest have been the pamphlet and the trial of Monta- 
lembert and the visit of Palmerston and Clarendon to 
Compiegne. The first seems to have excited more interest 
here than in Paris, where the tyrannical proceeding was 
taken very quietly, and little sympathy felt for a man who 
wrote so enthusiastically about England, and rebuked his 
own countrymen, and particularly his co-religionaries, for 
their unworthy conduct and language toward us. There 
appears to have been a general feeling of regret or disap- 
proval of the visit to Paris, even on the part of those who 
are most friendly to the two Lords. I think it is a pity 
they should have gone just at this moment, when the 



1858.] PROSECUTION OF COUNT MONTALEMBERT. 459 

Montalembert affair and the Portuguese quarrel have made 
the Emperor Jsapoleon very unpopular here ; but it does 
not seem to me to be a matter of much consequence, or to 
be worth the indignation which in some quarters it has 
elicited. 

HiUi)igdon, Decemher 12f7i. — I went to The Grove on 
Wednesday last and came back on Friday. There I had 
long talks with Clarendon for the first time for many a day, 
when he told me a great deal that was interesting, just as fie 
used to do formerly, first about his visit to Compiegne and 
his conversations with the Emperor. The Emperor told 
him that his motive for prosecuting Montalembert was that 
he was aware that there was a conspiracy of literary men, 
enemies of his Government, to write it down in a very in- 
sidious manner, not by any direct attacks, but, under the 
pretence of discussing subjects either not political or not 
French, to introduce matter most hostile and most mischiev- 
ous to him, and that it was necessary to put down such a 
conspiracy, and he thought the best course was to proceed at 
once against a man so conspicuous as Montalembert, and to 
make an example of him, by which others would be deterred. 
This was his excuse, whatever its value. It appears to me a 
very bad one, and I doubt if the fact itself is true, though 
Clarendon seemed to think it was. They had a great deal 
of conversation about Italy and the an ti- Austrian projects 
attributed to France, touching which the Emperor'? ideas 
were most strange and extravagant. He said there had been 
two questions in which France was interested : one the re- 
generation of Poland, the other the regeneration of Italy ; 
that in the pursuit of the first France naturally became the 
ally of Austria against Russia, in the pursuit of the other 
she became the ally of Russia and Sardinia against Austria ; 
that the peace with Russia had put an end to anything being 
done about the first, and the second alone became possible. 
Clarendon then pointed out to him all the difficulties of in- 
volving himself in such a contest as this scheme supposed, 
that Austria would sacrifice her last florin and her last man 
in defence of her Italian provinces, that to go to war with 
her would almost inevitably sooner or later plunge all Europe 
into war, and that the object to be gained by it, even by 
France herself, would be wholly incommensurate with the 
cost and the danger that would be incurred. The Emperor 
appeared to have no reply to make to Clarendon's remon- 



460 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVH. 

strances, nor did I gather that His Majesty had any casus 
belli against Austria, nor even any just cause of complaint 
to urge against her, from which I draw the inference not 
only that his policy is of a very wild and chimerical charac- 
ter, but that at any moment when he might see, or think he 
saw, any advantage in attacking another Power, no consid- 
eration of justice and good faith, still less of moderation and 
care for the happiness and peace of the world, would restrain 
him, and from such a contingency England would be no 
more exempt than any other country.^ 

December 12th. — Another day the Emperor asked Claren- 
don to come into his room, when he told him that he wanted 
his advice, that he was in a great dilemma and embarrass- 
ment in regard to his Roman occupation, and in a false posi- 
tion, from which he did not know how to extricate himself. 
He was dying to recall the French troops, and yet unable to 
do it. He had always hoped to be able to get the policy laid 
down in the Edgar Ney letter carried out, but as soon as the 
Pope and his ecclesiastical councillors returned to Eome they 
refused to do anything, and whenever he held out any threat 
of withdrawing his troops they always said he might do so 
whenever he pleased, for they knew very well the reasons 
which prevented his doing it : the moment the French troops 
marched out there would be an uprising in Eome and in the 
Papal States. The religious party in France would deeply 
resenf his exposing the Pope to any such danger, and as soon 
as the French went away the Austrians would march in and 
be masters of the whole country. Clarendon acknowledged 
the gravity of the situation and the difficulty, but could 
suggest no solution of it. They discussed the possibility of 
inducing the Pope to relinquish his temporal sovereignty, 
and to accept a great revenue instead, but neither of them 
seems to have thought this plan feasible. 

Ja7iuary lUh, 1859. — I purposed at the close of the last 
year to say a few words about a year which might well be 
called annus miraMlis and annus mmstissimus besides, for I 
do not remember any year marked by a greater number and 

1 [It is remarkable that this conversation of the Emperor with Lord Claren- 
don at Compiegne took place within a month of the speech to Baron Hubner on 
New Year's Day, wlaieh was the signal of war between France and Austi'ia, and 
at a time when tne secret alliance between the Emperor and M. de Cavour had 
been already concluded. The Emperor's object was evidently to delude his 
English guests, and Lord Clarendon was partially deceived by him, although he 
clearly perceived that there was danger of war ahead.] 



1859.] NArOLEON'S SPEECH TO BARON HCBNER. 461 

variety of remarkable events and occurrences, and certainly 
none which has been so fatal to the happiness of so many 
of our friends. One calamity has succeeded another with 
frightful rapidity, till it is ditticult to point to any one who 
has not sustained some terrible bereavement in the persons 
of near and dear relations or intimate friends. A severe fit 
of gout which attacked me on Christmas Day, and has kept 
hold of me ever since, prevented my executing my purpose, 
and now I have forgotten all I intended to say, and can only 
take up the present condition of affairs as they present them- 
selves at the beginning of this year, and this is dark and 
unpromising enough. All Europe has been thrown into 
alarm by the speech which the Emperor Napoleon made to 
the Austrian Ambassador Iliibner on New Year's Day, and 
by the announcement which followed it that Prince Napoleon 
was going to Turin to marry the King of Sardinia's daughter. 
The language of the King of Sardinia in his speech to his 
Parliament shortly afterward confirmed the general appre- 
hensions. The menacing manifestations having produced 
their effect, the Emperor seems to have thought it advisable 
to draw in his horns, and to try and calm the effervescence 
he had produced. This, however, was not so easy, and in 
spite of certain tranquillizing articles which tlie French Press 
was instructed to put forth, the impression that mischief 
is brewing cannot be effaced, and though many think that 
there will be no immediate outbreak, and the money dealers 
and speculators comfort themselves with thinking that want 
of money will prevent the great military Powers from going 
to war, the best informed persons, and those who are most 
accustomed to watch the signs of the times, are convinced 
that the time is near at hand when the peace of the world 
will be broken, that the Emperor is determined upon an ag- 
gression on Austria, and that he is only undecided as to the 
time when the operation shall be begun. It is now evident 
that when our Ex-Ministers were at Compiegne, and when 
the Emperor pretended that he wanted to consult Clarendon 
confidentially, he only made a half-confidence of his views 
and his position, and that he concealed from Clarendon the 
important fact of the marriage of Prince Napoleon, which 
was arranged at the time. 

The Grove, January 25th. — I have passed three days here 
very agreeably ; a large party on Saturday and Sunday, after 
which Clarendon, George Lewis, and I, talking over every- 



462 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVII. 

thing interesting at home and abroad. There has been a 
good deal of correspondence between Clarendon and John 
Eussell in a very friendly spirit, quite different from the 
terms they have been on till lately, and indicating the possi- 
bility of their coming together again in Opposition and in 
office. I saw also some letters of Palmerston's upon foreign 
affairs, exceedingly sound and judicious. I am bound to say 
that all I hear and see of Palmerston's views, opinions, and 
conduct is highly creditable to him, and very different from 
what I expected. He evinces no impatience to return to 
office, and no misconception of his own position. All he 
writes on foreign affairs, on France and Austria and Italy, 
is marked by great wisdom and moderation. He is taking 
his proper place as head of the Liberal and Whig party, pre- 
pared to go to Parliament and wait for the development of 
the policy and measures of the Government, before forming 
any plan of a political campaign. Eeading at the same time 
the letters of Lord John and those of Palmerston on the same 
subject, that of foreign policy, I am struck with the great 
sujoeriority of the latter. 

Bretby, January %Wi. — 1 left The Grove yesterday morn- 
ing, and came here to-day. At breakfast yesterday Claren- 
don handed over to me a letter from Eeeve, enclosing one 
from Guizot upon the aspect of affairs in Europe and the 
chances of war and peace ; an admirable letter, as all his 
are. Eeeve said that he had been told that Palmerston was 
likely to give utterance to some sentiments very anti-Aus- 
trian, and in favor of Italian nationality, than which noth- 
ing could be more mischievous or more conducive to the 
objects of Louis Napoleon. This seemed to me so incon- 
sistent with the spirit of moderation and good sense which I 
had remarked in the letters I had already seen of Palmer- 
ston's, that I said I could not think it possible that he was 
meditating anything of the sort, and I was greatly surprised 
when Clarendon replied, and George Lewis agreed with him, 
that nothing was more possible, and that he should not be 
at all surprised if he expressed sentiments which were very 
much those which he had always entertained. Of course 
they both deprecated any such language in the strongest 
manner. When I got to town I told Eeeve what had passed, 
and he then told me his authority for what he had written, 
and that his informant had gathered it from conversations 
with Palmerston himself. It was at all events satisfactory 



1859.] LORD TALMERSTON'S VIEW OF THE ITALIAN WAR. 4G3 

to find that the language of the "Times" had undergone 
no alteration, and that they adhered to the same judicious 
course and vigorous argumentation which they have all 
along adopted. Clarendon and George Lewis are equally 
afraid of what John Russell may say, but they are aware 
that though he may do considerable mischief, his dicta are 
infinitely less important than Palmerston's. Granville ar- 
rived last night from Paris and Rome, and I sjiw him for a 
few minutes as I was starting to come here. I had Just time 
to ascertain that his views are identical with those of Claren- 
don and George Lewis, and that his efforts will be joined to 
theirs in attempting to persuade both Palmerston and John 
Russell to refrain from saying anything which may serve as 
an encouragement to the Emperor, and George Lewis said 
that on Palmerston's language in the House of Commons 
the peace of the world might possibly depend. There seems 
no reason to doubt that one of the things which keeps the 
Emperor's mind in susi^ense and uncertainty is his desire to 
hear what passes in our Parliament, and to ascertain what 
amount of sympathy and support the Italian cause and a 
war against Austria are likely to find in this country. 
Palmerston must have already taken such a measure of the 
public feeling here as to know that any appeal to anti-Aus- 
trian and pro-Italian sympathies would meet with no re- 
sponse either in or out of Parliament. The most, therefore, 
that he will probably venture to do will be strenuously to 
recommend a complete neutrality, and that this country 
should determine to keep aloof from any contest that may en- 
sue. This would be playing the Emperor's game, and might 
perhaps be more useful to him than any other course we could 
take, for it would find pretty general concurrence, and most 
likely elicit many expressions of opinions which the Emperor 
would be able with some plausibility to construe in the man- 
ner most favorable to his own pretensions and designs. 

January dlst. — Dined with Lord Salisbuij on Saturday 
at the Sheriffs' dinner, when I met all the Cabinet, except 
Malmesbury, Hardwicke, and John Manners. Derby told 
me a curious thing. An experiment was made of the pos- 
sible speed by which a telegraphic message could be sent and 
an answer got. They fixed on Corfu, made every prepara- 
tion, and sent 07ie luord. The message and return were 
effected in six seconds. I would not have believed this on 
any other authority. 



464 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. XVII, 

Granville is just come from Paris, where he spent a 
week ; he saw and conversed with everybody, beginning with 
the Emperor and ending with Thiers. All the Ministers he 
talked to, Walewski, Fould, and Eouher, are dead against war, 
Morny the same, Baroche said to be for it, and Fleury, who 
wants to distinguish himself in the field. The Emperor talked 
over the whole question and assured him he had not committed 
himself to the King of Sardinia, but on the contrary had told 
him he would not support him if he committed any impru- 
dence toward Austria. Granville's impression is that the 
question is adjourned for the present, owing to the clear 
manifestation in Erance, but much more to the unanimous 
tone of the German and English Press. He is, however, 
waiting in great anxiety for the debates in our Parliament, 
and still hopes for some anti- Austrian expression which may 
favor his own views. He has such a contempt for his own 
nation and for the opinions of the French people that these 
last do not weigh much with him, and he fancies that they 
may be at any moment changed and run in a warlike cur- 
rent. Granville thinks our Government have acted properly 
throughout these transactions, so far as he can judge. 

February 5ih. — Parliament opened on Thursday with, as 
everybody owned, a very good speech, and the discussions 
in both Houses were in a very good tone, and all that could 
be desired as to foreign policy. It will be impossible for 
the Emperor to derive from what passed a single word from 
any quarter favorable to his projects. The disappointment 
of his expectations in this respect may be very annoying 
to him, and possibly induce him still to defer his final 
resolution, but it is too much to hope that the language 
of our Parliament will turn him altogether from his design. 
Indeed it has now become equally difiicult for him to advance 
without danger or to retreat without discredit, and in his 
position discredit is in itself fraught with danger. 

Fem^uary 12th. — The Emperor Napoleon's speech, looked 
for with so much anxiety here, arrived a few hours after its 
delivery on Monday last, and was on the whole regarded as 
rather pacific than the contrary, but still so reserved and 
ambiguous that it might mean anything or lead to any- 
thing or nothing. The general opinion seems to be that 
nothing will take place for the present. The Government 
have begun their campaign so quietly, and with so little 
disturbance or threatening of any, that if such calm appear- 



1859.] IONIAN MOTION DELAYED, 465 

ances were not often fallacious, one should predict their 
passing smoothly through the session ; but when one thinks 
of this time last year, of the apparent strength aud security 
of Palmerston's Government, and of the suddenness of his 
fall, it is impossible to rely upon the continuance of this 
unclouded sky. 

February IMh. — The general complaint is that nothing 
is done in Parliament, and that there is a general apathy, 
under the continuance of which the Government gets on 
without hindrance, while their faults or blunders pass un- 
checked. The Chancellor incurred a momentary odium by 
his attempt at perpetuating a very shameless job, by making 
his son-in-law a Judge in Lunacy without having any quali- 
fications for such an office ; but after a little spurt in the 
House of Commons, the result of which was the appoint- 
ment being rescinded, the matter quietly dropped. Glad- 
stone's extravagant proceedings at Corfu ^ have elicited 
something like an attack led on by Lord Grey, but although 
this subject will probably be more seriously and warmly dis- 
cussed after he comes home, it does not seem likely to lead to 
much at present, and Derby will probably jmrry Grey's attack 
on Monday next. 

February %ltli. — Derby prevailed on Grey to defer his 
Ionian motion till Gladstone's return, which he said would 
be in a fortnight at least. Palmerston had given notice 
of his intention to call the attention of the House of 
Commons to the present state of Europe, and to ask if 'the 
Government could give the country any information on the 
subject. The Government tried to persuade him to defer his 
intention, bitt without efiEect, and he persisted in his course. 
In the meanwhile Cowley suddenly arrived in England, sent 
for by the Government, as it was said, for the purpose of 
receiving instructions in respect to the conferences expected 
at Paris on the Danubian affairs. On Thursday morning 
the world was electrified at reading an article in the "■ Times " 
stating that Cowley was going on a special mission to Vienna 
for the purpose of making matters up, if possible, between 
France and Austria. The day before I had been apprised of 
the fact by Granville, who had heard it from Clarendon, to 

' [Mr. Gladstone had accepted, tempnrarily, tlie office of Lord Ilich Com- 
missioner of the Ionian Islands, under Lord Derby's Government. His pro- 
ceedinsxs there excited great surprise in England. The eventual result of his 
mission was the surrender of the Protectorate of the Ionian Islands to the King- 
dom of Greece.] 



466 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVII. 

whom Cowley had imparted the secret of his mission. The 
mission was in fact rather one from the Emperor than from 
our Government, who had really done nothing whatever, but 
were too happy to allow Cowley to go and try his hand in 
patching matters up. He has done it all off his own bat. 
Seeing how day after day war appeared to be becoming more 
imminent, he resolved to see if he could not do something 
to arrest the evil ; he found the French Ministers quite 
agreed with him, and the Emperor in a state of mingled 
rage, disappointment, and perplexity, clinging with his char- 
acteristic tenacity to the designs on which his mind has 
been so long fixed, and to which he probably stands com- 
mitted more than we are aware of, by his own professions, 
and by his cousin, who no doubt gave Cavour to understand 
he might certainly count upon the Emperor's aid. This 
course also he is the more reluctant to abandon, as he has 
certainly persuaded himself, or has been persuaded by others, 
that in no other way can he secure himself from the attempts 
of Italian conspirators and assassins, so that it is personal 
fear which is the real ground of what is called his policy. 
On the other hand, he is intensely disgusted and enraged at 
finding the whole feeling and opinion of England so decidedly 
pronounced against him, and that in no quarter whatever, 
neither in Parliament nor the Press, which represents the 
mind of the whole country, nor in any public men, can he 
find the slightest sympathy or encouragement, or anything 
but the most indignant disapprobation.^ 

The sentiment of England is if possible still stronger in 

_ 1 [The war of 1859 is now judged of more favorably than it was at the time 
of its inception, and the result obtained — the independence and unification of 
Italy — has led men to condone the tortuous and deceitful policy by which it was 
arrived at. The object of M. de Cavour was a noble one, although the means 
he employed were unscrupulous. The chief motive of the Emperor Napoleon 
was the fear of his old allies the Carbonari. Orsini's attempt on his life had 
powerfully affected him. 

To English statesmen of all parties (with one or two exceptions) it was appar- 
ent that the declaration of war by France on Austria was the destruction of the 
great compact of 1815, which (whatever may have been its defects) had given 
forty-foiu- yeai-s of peace to the Continent of Europe, and which had survived 
the Revolution of 1848 and the Crimean contest of 1854. It was the first out- 
break of the military power of the French Empire and it was likely to lead to 
future wars, as the result has proved. The defeat of Austria and the dissolu- 
tion of the Germanic Confederation in 1866 was tlie result of the combined 
action of Prussia and Italy, north and south of the Alps ; and the Franco-Ger- 
man war of 1870 was the result of the military ascendency Prussia had thus ac- 
quired in Europe. The policy of England was simply based on the principle 
that the duration of peace depended on the maintenance of the existing terri- 
torial arrangements of Europe.] 



1859.] LOKD COWLEY'S MISSION TO VIENNA. 467 

tlie same sense in Germany, and it is universal in France, 
where it is only prevented from manifesting itself with as 
much force and vivacity as in Germany and here by the 
fettered and subservient condition of the Press. In addition 
to this I am informed that the project of war is not jDopular 
with the army itself ; and as it is not morally certain that 
by plunging into war the Emperor will be secure from the 
danger of assassination, and there is at least as good a chance 
of war bringing with it perils of another sort quite as for- 
midable, so his very selfishness makes him doubt and waver, 
and inclines him to listen to the remonstrances which are 
addressed to him. Upon this uncertain and varying state of 
mind Cowley has been endeavoring to work, and he has so 
far succeeded as to have been entrusted by the Emperor with 
a commission to go to Vienna and negotiate with the Austrian 
Government a settlement of their differences, or rather, as 
there are in fact no differences to settle, to obtain from the 
Austrian Government some concessions by virtue of which he 
may be enabled to withdraw from his present false position 
without discredit, by which means he may give satisfaction 
to France and Europe, though at the risk of disappointing 
Sardinia and exasperating the Italian Carbonari. 

When Palmerston's discussion came on upon Friday last, 
it was already known (through the "Times") that Cowley 
was going to Vienna, though he himself had told nobody of 
this expedition (except Clarendon), and he evidently did not 
mean it should have been proclaimed. On Friday, Disraeli 
and Malmesbury said nothing of Cowley's mission, but they 
both announced that the Papal territories would be evacuated 
by the French and Austrian troops, and the public inferred 
that this evacuation was going to take place by a mutual 
agreement, and everybody asked, "Why then is Cowley going 
to Vienna ?" but the truth was that the Pope had requested 
the two Governments to withdraw their troops, and one of 
Cowley's objects is to procure the assent of Austria to that 
withdrawal, France having no doubt agreed to it on certain 
conditions, of which I do not know the details, but which 
are committed to the management of Cowley. Clarendon 
seemed to think that there was no more danger now of the 
pacific purpose of Cowley being obstructed at Vienna than 
at Paris, for he said that the Austrians are so proud, and 
moreover so greatly incensed at the conduct of France, that 
it is very doubtful whether they will be induced to make any 



468 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVII. 

concessions at all, and whether the Emperor of Austria will 
not prefer to encounter all the danger of war, prepared as he 
is, than consent to anything which should have the appear- 
ance of humbling himself before the outrageous pretences 
and intolerable insolence of the Emperor of the French. 

In the midst of the absorbing interest of this great ques- 
tion, the Government Reform Bill is coming on. They ap- 
pear to have thought it advisable to bespeak the good word 
of the " Times," and accordingly they sent Delane a copy of 
their Bill. This morning the heads of it appear in the 
"Times" with an approving article. Mild as it appears to 
be, it is too strong for Walpole and Henley, who have re- 
signed, but why they did not resign before it is difficult to 
understand. At Kent House yesterday afternoon there was 
a little gathering of Clarendon, Charles Wood, and George 
Lewis, when they all agreed that if the Government measure 
was such a one as they could possibly support, their proper 
policy would be to assist the Government in carrying it. 

March 1st. — According to all political calculations Cow- 
ley's mission ought to succeed, but I feel no confidence in 
his success, and rather believe that the Emperor Napoleon 
is acting with his usual duplicity and treachery, and duping 
Cowley to gain time, which is necessary to his plans. ^ It is 
revolting to see that the peace of the world and so much of 
the happiness or misery of mankind depend upon the caprice 
and will and the selfish objects and motives of a worthless 
upstart and adventurer, who is destitute of every principle 
of honor, good faith, or humanity, but who is unfortunately 
invested with an enormous power for good or evil. And this 
is the end of fifty years of incessant movement, of the prog- 
ress of society, of the activity and development of the 
human intellect in the country which is eternally mouthing 
about its superior civilization and its mission to extend the 
benefits of that civilization over the whole world. 

Disraeli brought forward his Reform Bill last night in a 
well-set speech, only too elaborate. It was coolly received, 
except by its most angry opponents, who lost no time in de- 
nouncing it. 

1 [This was the fact. It was not known until long afterward that positive 
ensraojements had been entered into .at Plombieres between the Emperor and M. 
de Cavour in the preceding autumn, including the marriage of Prince Napoleon 
to the daughter of the King of Sardinia, and tlie cession of Savoy and Nice as a 
compensation for the conquest of Northern Italy. Cavour had the Emperor in 
his power, and threatened, if he drew back, to publish the correspondence.] 



1859.] THE GOVERNMENT REFORM BILL. 469 

Marcli 3d. — It would be difficult to say what the feeling 
of the House of Commons really is on the subject of the 
Government Eeform Bill. The night it came out everybody 
who spoke spoke against it. The Ultra-Eeformers, from 
Bright down to John Eussell, naturally express nothing 
but abhorrence and contempt for such a measure ; half- 
and-half Reformers, who consider Eeform a necessity, and 
who would be glad to have the question settled for the 
present on such easy terms, do not venture to say much in 
its favor ; and the Whigs generally, particularly at their 
head-quarters, Brooks's, discuss with much variety of opinion 
whether the second reading ought to be resisted or not, 
the prevailing opinion being that the principle of the Bill 
(which is the equalisation of town and county franchise) is 
so inadmissible that it ought to be rejected, and they come 
to that conclusion the more readily because they think its 
rejection in that stage would put an end to the Government. 
On the other hand, Derby brought together two hundred of 
his supporters the day after the Bill appeared, and obtained 
their assent to it, and an engagement to support it. The 
resignations of Henley and Walpole have been prejudicial to 
the Government. Their explanations, which were full of 
half -suppressed bitterness toward their colleagues, were con- 
sidered damaging, and to have revealed trickery on the part 
of Derby, though they seem to me to have rather exhibited 
weakness on the part of the retiring Ministers. But what 
they have clearly shown is the extreme i)enury of the party 
in point of intellectual resources, when they can find no man 
of any weight or reputation to fill up the vacancies. But if 
the Government is weak, and their position very precarious, 
the state of the Opposition is at least as deplorable, for there 
is no union or agreement amongst them, and Granville ac- 
knowledged to me last night that if Derby should fall on the 
second reading, and Palmerston be sent for, as it may be ex- 
pected he would be, by the Queen, that it is impossible to 
see how another Government could be formed. This state 
of affairs and the magnitude of the embarrassment will proba- 
bly at last make some of those who so obstinately insisted 
upon their being right in resigning last year after the Vote 
of Censure, begin to think that they would have done better 
to accept the rebuke and stay in. All that is now occurring 
serves to confirm my own opinion upon that point. 

Since Cowley's arrival at Vienna nothing has been hoard 



470 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVII. 

of his mission, but there is nothing apparent tending to lead 
to the conclusion that he has been able to do any good, and 
the general impression is that the Emperor Napoleon is only 
endeavoring to gain time, and making a tool of Cowley in 
hopes of thereby committing this country in some degree to 
his ulterior designs, and there are not wanting persons who 
believe that it will after all be against this country that his 
arms will be turned, and not against Austria. 

March 8th. — On Saturday morning the "Times" pub- 
lished the article in the " Moniteur " (evidently the Emperor's 
composition), in which a formal denial was given to the im- 
puted warlike intentions of France. The general impression 
produced by this manifesto was that the Emperor had at 
last been diverted from his purpose by the various manifes- 
tations which he had seen at home as well as abroad, and that 
he had resolved to abandon it altogether. Many, however, 
refused to believe in this happy result, and thought that he 
was only trying to throw dust in the eyes of the world, and 
endeavoring to gain time. All things considered, I incline 
to believe that he has resolved to postpone his warlike de- 
signs sine die, though retaining his wish to employ the vast 
means on which he has expended so much money, and look- 
ing forward to some pretext which the chapter of accidents 
may alford him to execute his purpose. 

Strenuous efforts are making to bring about an under- 
standing and agreement between the Whig leaders as to op- 
posing the Government Bill, in which nobody is so active as 
George Lewis, who being very intimate with John Eussell, 
and much in his confidence, and at the same time still on a 
footing of an adherent of Palmerston, is better qualified 
than any one to form a link between the two and to produce 
a mutual accord. John Eussell has drawn up certain Eeso- 
lutions which he intends to move on the second reading. 
These Eesolutions have been shown to George Grey and to 
Palmerston, who have agreed to support them, and it may 
be presumed that if all the Whig leaders, or even most of 
them, take this course, they will be followed by the majority 
of the rank and file. The Government and their friends are 
considerably alarmed at this hostile demonstration, and the 
more disappointed because they had been led to believe that 
Palmerston intended to support the second reading, and they 
knew that many moderate Whigs were inclined to take the 
same course. Some may do so still, but if the rival leaders 



1859.] ANXIETY TO DEFEAT THE GOVERNMENT. 47I 

can agree upon an attack on the Bill, though they may be 
agreed on nothing else, it is certainly probable that the Gov- 
ernment will be beaten. Then will come the question of 
dissolution or resignation. This will probably depend on 
the amount and composition of the majority, and it will be 
a knotty point for Derby to decide upon. 

Savemake, March 9fh. — I met George Lewis at the 
Athenaeum yesterday, and had a talk about the state of affairs 
here. He told me that the whole Liberal party, he believed, 
would support John Eussell's Eesolutions. There had been 
considerable doubt at first whether the second reading of the 
Bill should be opposed or not, but upon a close examination 
of the Bill they found that it was such a dishonest measure 
that it could not be allowed to pass, and therefore it was 
better to throw it out at once. Palmerston and Lord John 
are now on very good terms. - Lord John had sent his 
Resolutions to Palmerston, and Palmerston had sent him 
word he would support whatever he proposed. Lewis 
thinks, though there is no agreement between them further 
than this with regard to the Reform Bill, that if this 
Government falls, and the Whigs return to power, means 
will be found of adjusting the rival pretensions of the two 
leaders, and getting them to act together. To effect this, 
his reliance is mainly on the Queen, who he thinks may and 
will exert her influence and authority for this end. There 
is, however, a notion abroad that if John Russell persists 
in his Resolutions, the Government will withdraw the first 
clause, which is tantamount to withdrawing the Bill itself. 
Lewis believes in this intention, and that if they do it they 
will become so unpopular, and incur so much discredit, that 
it will be impossible for them to go on or to attempt a dis- 
solution. Another notion is that they will withdraw the Bill, 
and endeavor to go on without any Bill at all, trusting to the 
Opposition not daring to propose a vote of want of confi- 
dence, which it is very doubtful if they could carry. The 
only thing clear is that they are very anxious to turn the 
Government out, and to take their chance of the conse- 
quences. Their success seems not at all unlikely, but when 
they have accomplished their object their embarrassments 
will begin. First there will be Lord John and Palmerston, 
then Vembarras des richesses of the numerous candidates 
for office, and settling who is to come in and who are to be 
thrown overboard. 



473 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVII. 

March 15th. — Cowley arrived from Vienna on Saturday, 
I have not yet seen him, but Clarendon told me yesterday 
that he brings back the most satisfactory assurances on 
the part of Austria, who is ready to give every pledge of her 
pacific intentions, and to come to any agreement with France 
upon the withdrawal of both their forces from the Papal 
States, but that she will make no concessions inconsistent 
with her rights and her dignity, or which could seem to 
damp the enthusiasm now prevailing in Germany in her fa- 
vor ; in fact, that she has no concessions to make. Within 
the last few days the symptoms from France have been more 
menacing. At Paris the conviction is general that war is 
meant, and I am obliged to" believe it likewise. The resig- 
nation of Prince Napoleon seems to have been a mere sham, 
and his intimacy with the Emperor as close as ever. There 
is no reason to believe that the military preparations in 
France are suspended, and in Piedmont they are certainly 
going on actively. 

The other great topic of interest, viz. the Eeform Bill 
and John Eussell's Eesolutions, does not look in a more 
satisfactory state. While many sensible people deprecate 
this move of John Russell's, and lament that Palmerston 
should have consented to support it, the probability seems 
that it will be carried, but the greatest uncertainty prevails 
as to the course which the Government will adopt, and 
whether they will try to go on, dropping their Bill altogether, 
or continue the fight with its remaining clauses, or whether 
they will take the chance of a dissolution. It is now clear 
enough that Derby made a great blunder in undertaking to 
deal with the question of Reform at all, and that a consistent 
Conservative course would have been the most honorable 
and the wisest, and have afforded him the best chance of 
staying in oflBce. By bringing forward a measure to the 
principle of which it is well known that he and his whole 
Government and party are in their hearts adverse, and then 
trying to vitiate the principle by certain contrivances in the 
details, by which the scruples of his own party may be 
obviated, he exposes himself to the charge of producing a 
dishonest measure, and this is what the Whigs urge as 
their ground for attacking it in front and at once. This is 
what Lewis said to me, " We are bound to defeat a measure 
which is so dishonest that it is not susceptible of such im- 
provement in Committee as would warrant our passing it." 



1859.] LORD JOUN RUSSELL'S RESOLUTIONS. 473 

The conduct of the Whigs, however, is not a whit more hon- 
est. Their allegation is a mere pretext, and their real mo- 
tive is that they think they see their way back to office 
through an attack upon the Government Bill ; they are in- 
different to the consequences, and all they want is to get the 
coast clear for themselves, and take the chance of settling 
the difficult questions which will arise as to the formation 
of a Government and the conditions on which it can be 
formed. All this appears to me quite as dishonest as any- 
thing the Government have done or are doing. Palmerston 
never was a Reformer. He was opposed as much as he dared 
and could ])e even to the great measure of 1833, which all 
the world was for. AVhen he brought forward a measure of 
his own two or three years ago, he did it without sincerity 
or conviction, and merely for a party object, and now he is 
uniting with John Russell without atiy real agreement with 
him in opinion, and with full knowledge that if they suc- 
ceed and climb into office on the ruins of the Government 
Bill he will be obliged to propose a measure much stronger 
than he believes to be either necessary or safe. Believing 
that Palmerston and John Russell were agreed no further 
than upon the Resolutions on Monday next, I thought that 
a difference must arise between them (in the event of their 
coming into office) on the Reform Bill they should produce, 
but I was told just now that upon this point they are already 
nearly if not completely agreed. They arc, however, not 
yet agreed upon the great question of the Premiership, or 
which of them shall go to the House of Lords. The impa- 
tience and confidence of Lord John seems to be unbounded, 
and in spite of his being the younger by seven years, his 
eagerness to be in office again much more intense than 
that of Palmerston. Although this is such a miserable Gov- 
ernment, both discreditable and incompetent, and it is a 
misfortune to have the country ruled by such men, I cannot 
desire the success of such selfish and unpatriotic manoeuvres 
as those by which the Whigs are endeavoring to supplant 
them, and consequently I regard the whole state of affairs 
with indescribable disgust and no small apprehension. I 
believe the country to be in nearly equal danger from Louis 
Napoleon abroad and Mr. Bright at home, and I fear that there 
is no capacity in the Government to cope with the one, and no 
such amount of wisdom and patriotism among the chief men 
of all i^arties as is requisite to defeat the designs of the other. 



474 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XYII. 

March IGth. — Cowley called on me yesterday at the 
Council Office. He said that he had never believed there 
would be war, and he did not ex]3ect it now ; that all the 
agitation and turmoil that had been vexing Europe for the 
last three months were to be attributed to the conduct of 
Cavour and his attempts to drag France into assisting 
Piedmont in her aggressive policy, and to misunderstand- 
ings which had been produced by the strange conduct of the 
French Government, the imprudent speech of the Emperor 
to Hiibner on January 1st, and the ambiguous manifesta- 
tions which had followed it. To comprehend all these things 
it was necessary to be acquainted with the whole course of 
Cavour's policy and his dealings with France, and to under- 
stand the peculiar character of the Emperor and the motives 
and impulses by which he is actuated. When Austria re- 
fused to Join England and France in the Eussian War, 
Cavour thought that an opportunity presented itself of 
which he might take advantage, and which would lead to a 
realisation of his views for the aggrandisement of Piedmont, 
and he offered to join the alliance and send an army to the 
Crimea. This offer (as Cowley thinks verjr imprudently and 
unfortunately) was accepted. He thinks it was unwise, be- 
cause the assistance of Piedmont was not required, and could 
not have any material effect on the result of the contest, 
while it was sure to excite hopes and expectations, and to 
give rise to demands which would be afterward found very 
inconvenient and embarrassing. Accordingly Cavour took 
the earliest opportunity of expressing his hopes that when 
peace should return Sardinia and her services would not be 
overlooked. General expressions of goodwill were given, 
but Cowley cannot answer for what more the Emperor may 
have said. 

His account of his mission does not quite correspond 
with what I had before heard of it, and is an additional proof 
of the difficulty of arriving at truth. He told me that he 
had written to Malmesbury and told him he thought it very 
expedient to send somebody to Vienna to talk to Buol and 
the Emperor, and to try and mediate between Austria and 
France, to which Malmesbury had replied he had better go 
himself, as nobody else would be so likely to effect the object. 
The consent of Buol having been previously obtained, he 
proposed it at Paris, where his services were gladly accepted. 
He had already spoken very openly to the Emperor, and 



1859.] LORD COWLEY'S VIENNA NEGOTIATION. 475 

told him yery plain truths as to his position and his conduct, 
and when he went he told his Majesty without disguise 
what his intentions were and his wishes, and what he desired 
that Austria should do. The Emperor was very frank, 
totally disdained any wish to make war, but said he should 
like Austria to do certain things, which amounted to full 
security for Piedmont and renunciation of any unfair and 
unjustifiable predominance in Italy. He found them at 
Vienna more angry than alarmed ; suspicious, but not un- 
reasonable ; their military condition so good and powerful 
that, believing France really bent on attacking them, there 
was a very general feeling that it was better war should 
come at once than have it indefinitely hanging over them, 
and at first it seemed unlikely that they would return any 
conciliatory assurances which he might carry back to France. 
At last, however, he got them to say what he thought was as 
much as could be expected from them, and what ought to 
satisfy the French Government. Since he left Paris (now 
three weeks ago or more) he has not had a line from thence, 
and he is wholly ignorant of the march of afifairs during 
his absence ; but he hopes and expects to find a pacific dis- 
position, and his object is to prevail on the Emperor to put 
an end to the general state of uncertainty and alarm by an- 
nouncing to Sardinia that she is in no danger from Austria, 
and that therefore no assistance from France will be neces- 
sary, and she may safely desist from her warlike prepara- 
tions. This is in fact the only way by which the crisis can 
be put an end to, and if the Emperor really has been sincere 
in his professions and means to make his acts correspond 
with them, he will forthwith put forward some clear and un- 
ambiguous declaration, and some definite communication to 
Piedmont which will leave no room for doubt or suspicion, 
and restore confidence and tranquillity to Europe again. 

March 22d. — Yesterday the "Times" announced that a 
Congress had been agreed upon, which was believed, so the 
funds rose and there was a general belief that a solution 
was at hand, but it turns out not to be true. The Emperor 
wishes for one as a means by which he may back out of his 
scrape, which Cowley writes is now his object, but it is im- 
possible to believe that Austria will listen to it, and Claren- 
don thinks that she would do wrong to consent to it, and 
that we should get into a scrape by being a party to it, as no 
reliance whatever can be placed on the good faith or honesty 



476 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVn. 

of France, who would deceive us and Austria, as she has 
often done before. 

Yesterday the Neapolitan exiles arrived at an hotel in 
Dover Street in several hack cabs, decorated with laurels, and 
preceded by a band of music. I did not see the men, but 
saw the empty cabs ; there was no crowd. 

Nothing could be more uninteresting than the first even- 
ing of the debate on John Eussell's Eesolutions last night. 
Lord Mai'ch told me in the morning that the Government 
would certainly dissolve as soon as the Eesolutions were car- 
ried. Every day makes the folly of Derby more apparent in 
bringing in any Eeform Bill at all. 

March 24;fA.— When I think of the Eeform Bill of 1832, 
and compare the state of affairs at that time with that of the 
present time, nothing can be more extraordinary. Then 
the interest was intense, the whole country in a fever of 
excitement, the Press rabid, the clamor for Eeform all but 
universal, party running tremendously high, no doubt or 
hesitation about individual wishes and opinions, and each 
camp perfectly united in itself, and full of energy and zeal. 
In this condition of the public mind and of politics the de- 
bates began and continued. This debate has begun and 
seems likely to continue, how differently ! There are neither 
zeal nor union on one side or the other, everybody is dis- 
satisfied with the state of affairs, and nobody can see a satis- 
factory issue from the general embarrassment. There have 
been two nights of debate, and as yet all the speaking has 
been one way, all on the anti-Eeform side. John Eussell 
was flat, and Stanley, who replied to him, actually read his 
speech, which, though it was much complimented by his own 
friends, seems to have been far from effective. Horsman 
made a very good speech the first night, and Bulwer Lytton 
spoke with great eloquence and effect on Tuesday, far better 
than anybody thought he could speak, and the Solicitor- 
General made a magnificent speech, in which he attacked 
John Eussell with great vigor and complete success. The 
only tolerable speech on the Opposition side was Sidney Her- 
bert's. Nobody has the least idea what course the Govern- 
ment will take of the three open to them, whether they will 
resign, dissolve, or go on with the second reading. The in- 
ference from Stanley's speech was that they will dissolve, but 
Lytton and Cairns seemed anxious to do away with the im- 
pression that speech had made, and one is led to infer from 



1859.] DEBATE ON REFORM BILL. 477 

what they said that the Government will most likely proceed 
to the second reading, which would probably be their wisest 
and certainly their most popular course. The majority of 
those who are going to vote for the Resolutions do so un- 
willingly, and would have preferred going into Committee, 
or to have fought the battle on the second reading. As it is, 
if Government do not throw up their cards, the second read- 
ing is in my opinion sure to pass, and not improbably the 
Bill itself with great alterations. 

The state of foreign affairs is as uncertain as ever. So 
incurable is the distrust of the Emperor Napoleon that the 
greatest doubts prevail whether he means peace or war, and 
whether even this Congress which he is trying to bring about 
is not a mere dodge for the purpose of gaining time, and in 
order to extract out of it a plausible case for a complete 
breach with Austria. 

Gladstone is come back from Italy completely duped by 
Cavour, who has persuaded him that Piedmont has no am- 
bition or aggressive objects, and that Austria alone is guilty 
of all the trouble in which the world has been plunged. He 
told this to Aberdeen, who treated his delusions and his cre- 
dulity with the utmost scorn and contempt, but he is said to 
have found John Russell more credulous, and ready to accept 
Gladstone's convictions. 

March 26ih. — The debate goes on, to the nitense disgust 
of everybody, though enlivened by a few clever and telling 
speeches. But everybody is disgusted with the whole affair, 
from which all see that no good can come, and probably 
much mischief will ensue. The Government side continues 
to have the best of the debate, Horsman, who spoke for them, 
and Lytton and Cairns having been very superior to all the 
speakers on the other side. On Friday Palmerston spoke, 
with great vigor, but not much effect. His speech was very 
jaunty, but very insincere. When he said that he cordially 
supported the Resolutions of his noble friend, everybody knew 
that it was not true, that he really disapproved of them, and 
that he only consented to go with Lord John in order to 
evince his willingness to make up their political difference, 
and to lend himself to the reunion of all the Whig party; but 
in his speech he said enough to show that there is not likely 
to be an entire or lasting agreement between them, and that 
the two Kings of Brentford will not long continue to smell at 
the same nosegay. The Opposition have been all along quite 



478 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVII. 

confident of victory on the Resolutions, and it has been im- 
possible to make sure of the intentions of the Government in 
the event of their being beaten, as they have severally held 
such very different language on the point. 

But an incident has occurred which is very likely to ex- 
tricate the Government from their difficulty, and of which I 
presume they will avail themselves. Owen Stanley (brother 
of Stanley of Alderley) the other night blurted out, without 
previous concert with anybody, a notice of a motion of want 
of confidence in the event of the second reading not passing. 
The Opposition are unanimously disgusted at this piece of folly 
and meddling, while the Government are of course delighted 
at such a plank of safety being held out to them, and if they 
use it dexterously, they may completely defeat Lord John 
and Palmerston, and prolong their own tenure of office for 
some time at least. 

April 1st. — The great debate came to an end last night. 
The majority was greater than either side expected, and the 
Government and their friends were sanguine to the last that 
they should win by a few votes. ^ Although there was a great 
deal of tedious speaking, it was on the whole a very able and 
creditable debate, and there were several very powerful 
speeches, but principally on the side of the minority. Glad- 
stone's was particularly good, and Dizzy's reply, with a very 
effective philippic against John Eussell, was exceedingly 
clever, and delivered with much dignity and in very good 
taste. Although the question of Eeform was regarded with 
so much indifference, as the debate proceeded and party spirit 
and emulation waxed hot, the interest and curiosity became 
intense. They have become still more intense to-day, and. 
the town is in a state of feverish anxiety to know what is 
going to happen, and, as usual on such occasions, there are a 
thousand reports, speculations, and guesses afloat. This 
morning the prevalent idea was that they would resign, but 
this evening, and since Derby's brief notice in the House of 
Lords, it is rather that they will dissolve. Certainly the 
Queen might very well refuse her consent to a dissolution if 
proposed to her, and this would of course compel the Govern- 
ment to resign ; but nobody knows whether she wishes Derby 
to stay in, or would prefer to take the chance of forming an- 
other Ministry. I have no idea that happen what may slie 

1 [The nuralicrs were : For the second readinof of the Bill 291, for Lord John 
Russell's Resolutions 330 ; majority against the Government 39.] 



1859.] DUPLICITY OF THE EMPEROR. 479 

will send for Lord John Russell ; but no doubt she knows all 
that has recently passed between him and Palmerston, and 
about the formation of another Government, and it is not 
impossible that she may shrink from being plunged into the 
difficulties which would attend the attempts to form a Gov- 
ernment in which they were to divide the power and au- 
thority between them. 

April Uh. — The report yesterday was that Derby does 
not mean to resign or dissolve, or to go on with the present 
Bill, but perhaps bring in a fresh one. As we shall hear it 
all this evening, it is useless to si:)eculate on the subject. 
The Opposition are evidently puzzled what to do. I went to 
Kent House, where Lewis said tlie Government were much 
mistaken if they imagined they should be left alone ; he did 
not know what would be done, but certainly they must look 
to be attacked in some shape or other. Granville in the 
evening took the opposite line, and said the best party game 
would be to let them alone. Nothing, however, will ever in- 
duce John Russell to keep quiet. 

Clarendon came in, and we talked of foreign affairs. He 
thinks war inevitable, and that the French are only gain- 
ing time to complete their preparations. I said I thought 
Cowley had been duped by the Emperor, but he thought not. 
Cowley had all along seen all the objections to the proposed 
Congress and suspected the arriere pensee of it, but said it 
was imj^ossible when jn-oposed to object to it, as the Emperor 
would put forward such a refusal as a pretext, and say that it 
would have prevented war. Two years ago he had a reliance 
upon the Emperor which he had no longer ; that he was 
completely changed now from what he was, and it was diffi- 
cult to know what he really meant, and when he was sin- 
cere or the reverse. Clarendon told us he had lately seen 
Marliani, an old acquaintance of his, a Spanish Liberal and 
friend of Cavour's. Marliani said that the Italian question 
was ill understood in England, and he had come over for the 
express purpose of seeing Clarendon and talking it over with 
him, and putting before him a paper he had written upon it. 
The conversation was curious. Clarendon told him he was 
quite mistaken if he thought the Government or any other 
Government could take any part at variance with the exist- 
ing treaties, or that the country would allow them to do so, 
even if inclined. He then asked him what his friend Cavour 
meant to do in the dilemma in which he had got himself 



480 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVII. 

and his country, and expressed very strong opinions on his 
conduct. Marliani replied that it was not quite just to 
censure Cavour with such severity, and without considering 
his position, that during his whole life his most ardent 
desire and fixed idea was that of purging Italy of the 
Austrians and aggrandising his own country, and now when 
he saw before him the probable realisation of his fond hopes, 
that he was backed up and encouraged by the master of 
300,000 men in the game he was playing, and taught to 
rely upon that aid, could it be wondered at that he should 
yield to the seduction ? Clarendon asked what would happen 
if the Emperor proved faithless to him, as he had done to 
others, and in what position Cavour would find himself. 
Marliani replied that he had no hesitation in telling him 
what he thought need not be a secret, at least to him, as he 
was sure Cavour would tell Clarendon himself if he saw him, 
and that Cavour had fully made up his mind what to do. If 
the Emperor ended by throwing over the Italian cause and 
refused to go to war, Cavour would resign, the King would 
abdicate, and the whole correspondence with all the Emperor's 
letters (of which they had an immense number) would be 
published and circulated over all Europe to show the base- 
ness and perfidy of the man in whom they had trusted, and 
to force him to hide his head from the indignation and con- 
tempt of the world. Everything indicates that, whether 
from fear of this vindictive explosion or because he thinks it 
his policy, he is hastening his preparations, has renewed his 
engagements to Cavour, and that he means to go to war as 
soon as he can. 



1859.] DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 481 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

The Government determine to dissolve the P.arli;\ment— Apathy of the Country— Hopes and 
Fears iis to the War— The Conjrress a Tiick— DisraeU on ihe approaching Elections- 
War Declared — Mr. Greville resigns the Clerkship of the Council —Result of the Elec- 
tions — Mistakes of the Austrian Government— I'olioy of the Opposition — lieconcilia- 
tion of Lord falraerston and Lord John liussell — The Keconciliation doubtful — Meet- 
ing of the Liberal Party — Kesolution of the Meeting — Debate on the Resolution of 
Want of Confidence— Defeat of Ministers— Lord Derby resigns — Lord Granville sent 
for by the Queen— Lord Granville does not term a Government — Lord Palmerston 
sent for— Lord I'almerston's Second Administration— The Queen confers the (iarter 
on Lord Derby — Successful Progress of the French in Italy — Causes of Lord Gran- 
ville's Failure — Lord .lohn claims the Foreign Office— Lord Clarendon declines to take 
Otfice— Lord Clarendon's Interview with the Queen — Mr. Cobden declines to take Office 
— The Armistice of Villafranca- Peace Concluded — The Terms of Pe.ice— Position of 
the Pope— Disappointment of Italy -Conference of the Emperors — Alleped Sensitive- 
ness of the Emperor Napoleon — Details of the War — A Visit to Ireland— Irish National 
Education — Dublin — Howth Castle — VVaterford — Killarney — Return from Ireland — 
Numerous Cabinets -A Dispute with China — Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell 
— Lord rlareudon at Osborne — Spain and Morocco — The Due d'Aumale — Perplexity 
of the Emperor Napoleon — The Emperor Napoleon and the '' Times." 

April 7th, 1859. — The determination of the Government, 
announced in both Houses on Monday evening, took the 
world by surprise. Nobody thought there would be a disso- 
lution. Derby's speech was very bad, much below his usual 
level. The attack on John Russell which formed a chief 
part of it was merely a rechauffe of that of Disraeli, but 
very inferior to it in every respect. Disraeli in the 
other House spoke much better, and with more taste and 
temper. The Opposition leaders are evidently much taken 
aback ; the Derbyites assert that they have reason to expect 
a gain of forty votes, but nobody believes it. Many think 
a much more Eadical and an angry Parliament will be 
returned, but ; there is no excitement, and it seems to me 
more probable that those are right who think the relative 
proportions will not be materially altered. The Whig chiefs 
are very angry with John Eussell for committing himself as 
he did on Monday night by his speech and announcement of 
his own plan of Eeform. Great attempts were made to 
dissuade him from doing this, but he would not listen to 
reason. Palmerston made a speech clearly indicative of 
disagreement with Lord John, though with a semblance of 
union. The Eesolutions on one side and the Dissolution on 
the other have both been great faults, of which the mis- 
chievous consequences may be very serious, but which cannot 
be made manifest till we see the result of the election. 

April \bth. — I have been reading over to George Lewis 
my account of what took place about the Eeform Bill of 

21 



482 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XYIII. 

1832, to assist him in reviewing that period of history, and 
in so doing it is impossible not to be struck with the contrast 
between the public excitement which prevailed then and 
the apathy and absence of interest which we witness now. 
At every general election there is a great deal of bustle, 
activity, party zeal, and contention, but there are not more 
of these now than on ordinary occasions, if anything less. 
Both parties are confident that they shall gain, and the 
Derbyites are making great efforts, and have collected a very 
large sum of money. Derby has given 20,000?. to the fund, 
but candidates are slack in coming forward with the prospect 
of the new Parliament not lasting many months. The ques- 
tion of peace or war is still in abeyance, but inclines rather 
toward war ; the public securities oscillate like a barometer, 
and people are puzzled and unable to form any opinion. 

April 20th. — The long promised statements were made 
in both Houses on Monday night, but they told us nothing 
that was not already known, and merely expressed hopes 
that war might still be averted. Disraeli in the Commons 
was more sanguine than Malmesbury and Derby in the 
Lords. Clarendon and Derby both made excellent speeches, 
the former particularly ; all he said was sound and true. The 
most striking thing in both Houses was the extreme caution 
and reserve of the speakers on both sides, and particularly 
their reticence and forbearance about France. Not one 
word of blame of the Emperor of the French ; no more 
about him, his sayings and doings, than about the Emperor 
of Eussia, or than if he had had nothing whatever to do 
with the present state of things. This was probably politic, 
but it was lamentable and disgraceful that we should be 
obliged, or think ourselves obliged, to abstain from speaking 
the truth, for fear of offending this rascally adventurer, who 
by the egregious folly and cowardice of the French nation 
has been invested with such an awful power of mischief, and 
whom neither fear nor shame deters from pursuing his own 
wicked ends at the expense of any amount of misery and 
desolation which he may inflict upon mankind. One cannot 
help contrasting the extreme delicacy and forbearance ex- 
hibited toward him with the violence and abuse which were 
directed against the Emperor Nicholas in 1854. 

I met Disraeli yesterday afternoon, when he told me they 
had got such satisfactory news from the Continent that he . 
considered the affair as virtually settled and the danger at 



1859.] MR. DISRAELI'S EXPECTATIONS. 483 

an end. God grant it may be so, but I am far from being 
satisfied that the danger is over. On the eve of great 
resolutions, and as the moment of taking an irrevocable step 
draws near, the actors in great events have generally some 
misgivings, and pause upon the brink, and so probably will 
these quasi-belligerents do now ; but I believe the conces- 
sions which France expresses herself willing to make to our 
entreaties to be a part of her game. Clarendon or Derby 
said that if Cowley had been allowed to work out his purpose 
of mediation, probably all would have been settled, and 
that the proposition of Eussia for a Congress had been mis- 
chievous, and only involved the question in fresh doubt and 
delay. But it appears evident that this was a French trick, 
and that Eussia proposed the Congress at the instigation of 
France, who sought it for the purpose of delay, and most 
likely in order to extract from it a plausible cause of quarrel. 
Derby in his speech attributed a great deal to the menacing 
and disturbing speech of the King of Sardinia in opening his' 
Chambers, but nobody said a word of Napoleon's sortie to 
the Austrian Minister on the 1st January, nor was any allu- 
sions made to various important facts which were well known 
to many people in both Houses. No reproaches were cast 
upon Sardinia, but a good many upon Austria ; no comment 
made upon the flagrant breach by Sardinia of the treaties ex- 
isting between her and Austria, and of the forbearance of the 
latter in not making that breach a casus belli, as she might 
well have done. 

I went to a Council on Monday for the prorogation, when 
I had some conversation with Disraeli, and asked him what 
his real belief was as to their prospects in the election. He 
said there was so much luck in these matters that it was 
difficult to speak positively, but that he had endeavored to 
ascertain the true probabilities of the result, and his conclu- 
sion was that if fhey had luck they should gain sixty votes ; 
and what, I asked, if there was no luck on one side or the 
other ? Then, he said, they should gain forty. I told him 
the 0{)position calculators did not believe the Government 
would gain at all, or at most not above eight or ten, if so 
many, and asked if he was confident they should gain from 
twenty to thirty anyhow. He said from the day of their 
taking office they had looked forward to a dissolution, that 
their organization was excellent, they had plenty of candi- 
dates and of money, and he was quite confident they should 



484 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. XVIII. 

gain that number and more ; he added that there was in no 
part of the country the slightest desire for Keform, and he 
had altered the address he had first intended to put forth, in 
consequence of finding what the prevailing sentiment was on 
that question. I suppose they hold this language to justify 
their dissolution, for it is difficult to believe they can really 
expect such results, or that their opponents, who tell such a 
different story, can be so completely mistaken. 

April 24:th, NewmarTcet. — Disraeli's information on Tues- 
day last, when I met him at Lady Jersey's, might well have 
warranted me in believing that no war would take place, but 
I have never been able to persuade myself that this calamity 
would be averted, and it appears that my apprehensions 
were well founded, for now the die seems to be really cast, 
and at the moment when I am writing it is probably actual- 
ly declared and begun. Though Austria is perfectly justi- 
fied in declining to wait any longer while France is maturing 
her preparations, and cannot justly be blamed for bringing 
the affair to a crisis, she is certain to be exposed to every 
sort of obloquy and misrepresentations even in this country, 
and of course much more in France. 

April %ltli. — On Monday we heard that the Austrians 
had sent their ultimatum to Sardinia, and there was a com- 
plete panic in the City. Yesterday we were informed that 
she had given fourteen days' grace to Sardinia, and every- 
thing was up again. But this morning we were undeceived, 
and found this latter report had no foundation. Meanwhile 
the clamor against Austria has been senseless and disgrace- 
ful ; nothing could be more unworthy than Derby's allusion 
to her in his speech at the Mansion House dinner on Mon- 
day. It was a claptrap, and meant to obtain jDopularity and 
assist the Ministerial interest at the election. Nothing has 
ever disgusted me more than to see the readiness with which 
everybody finds fault with Austria, and the care with which 
they avoid any notice of France, not, however, that this can 
or will last. What sort of relations we shall continue to 
have with France I cannot imagine. "We have been treated 
in a manner which puts an end to the possibility of any 
amicable feelings between the two countries. We can never 
trust the Emperor again, and must take measures for our 
own security as best we may ; but unhappily the Indian war 
has so materially diminished our power and absorbed our 
resources, and France has so enormously gained upon us in 



1S59.] WAR IX ITALY. 485 

point of naval strength, that vre are not in a condition to 
hold the language and play the part that befit the dignity 
and the honor of the country. We can revile Austria with 
impunity, for we know that we are in no danger of an attack 
from lier, but, on the contrary, that she has so much need 
of our good will that she will endure our taunts and re- 
proaches, and not quarrel with us even in words. It was a 
prophetic saying of Mackintosh forty years ago at Roohamp- 
ton that it remained to be proved whether the acquisition 
of our Indian Empire was in reality a gain to us, and wo 
must hope that the remark will not be illustrated in our 
days by seeing England herself placed in danger by her exer- 
tions to retain or reconquer India, whose value is so prob- 
lematical and of which nothing is certain but the immense 
labor and cost of her retention. 

May 14:th. — Another severe fit of the gout, principally in 
the right hand, has prevented my writing a line for the last 
fortnight, during which war has broken out, and the general 
election has been begun and ended, and, what is most im- 
portant to myself, I have resigned my office. Hitherto the 
war and the election have equally disappointed the expecta- 
tions they gave rise to. The Austrians committed a blun- 
der in plunging into the war, and have not taken the only 
advantage such a measure seemed to promise, viz. that of 
overpowering the Sardinians before the French could join 
them, and now nobody can make out what their tactics are 
or when and where the contest will begin in earnest. Mean- 
while we are taking an imposing attitude of armed and pre- 
pared neutrality. Disraeli's anticipated sixty votes have 
dwindled down to a gain of twenty, but Malmesbury told 
Cowley that they should have force sufficient to maintain 
their ground, which I see their opponents do not believe. 

May 17th. — The elections are nearly if not quite over, 
and, as well as can be collected from the conflicting calcula- 
tions of the rival parties, they present a gain of nearly thirty 
for the Government. With this they evidently hope and 
their opponents fear they will be able to go on at least to 
the end of the session, and I incline to think so likewise. 
Their Government is miserably weak and incapable, their 
numbers respectable, but their staff deplorable. It is ex- 
pected they will propose to Lord Elgin to take Lytton's place. 
The general election has been eminently satisfactory in this, 
that it has elicited the completely Conservative spirit of the 



486 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVIII. 

country. Palmerston, who predicted that the consequence 
would be a large increase of Radical strength, has been alto- 
gether mistaken. It may be added (whether this is a good 
or an evil) that it has also manifested the indifference of the 
country to all parties and to all political ties and connexions. 
In the last general election the cry was all for Palmerston, 
in this there has been no cry for anybody, neither for Palm- 
erston nor Derby, and less than all for John Eussell or 
Bright. And yet John Russell is flattering himself he shall 
have an opportunity of forming a Government, and talks of 
his regret at being obliged to leave out so many of his 
friends. It is remarkable that the Catholics have supported 
the Government, and that they have done so under orders 
from Rome. Archbishop Cullen is there, and has signified 
to the priests tlie pleasure of the Pope that the Derby Gov- 
ernment should be supported. Clarendon told me this yes- 
terday, and that the reason is because they think this Gov- 
ernment more favorably inclined to Austria than any other, 
especially than either Palmerston or John Russell would be. 
The Papal Government have never forgiven the Whigs for 
the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, and this accounts for the other- 
wise strange support given by the Catholics to those who 
have always been their bitterest enemies. 

The war still languishes, and nobody can make out what 
the Austrian plans are. A great sensation has been made 
by the retirement of Buol and the appointment of Rechberg. 
The first report was that it was a sacrifice made to appease 
the resentment of Russia, but Clarendon told me yesterday 
he did not believe this, but that it was rather to satisfy some 
of the German Powers whom Buol had deeply offended. 
Nothing could have exceeded the stupid blundering and mis- 
conduct of the Austrian Government during the last few 
critical weeks, and their want of tact toward Prussia and 
the German Powers. The Archduke Albrecht was sent to 
Germany for the purpose of stirring np the German Powers, 
and professedly to procure such a demonstration as should 
be the means of preventing war, and then, while the Arch- 
duke was still at Berlin, they blurted out their ultimatum 
(which was a declaration of war) without letting Prussia 
know what they were about. The Archduke was obliged to 
declare his own ignorance of the intentions of his Govern- 
ment, and Prussia consequently to announce her disappro- 
bation of the measure and to signify the same to France, 



1859.] RESULT OF TEE ELECTIONS. 487 

which was just what suited the Emperor Louis Napoleon. 
I hear also that his departure from Paris was accelerated by 
the necessity of rej)airing as speedily as possible to the seat 
of war, in order to quiet the dissensions and quarrels which 
were already raging between the French generals. Not a 
very promising beginning of the campaign. This used to 
be the case formerly in the great Napoleon's time wherever 
he was not present. His presence silenced these quarrels, 
but it remains to be seen whether this man will have equal 
authority over unruly subordinates, who cannot possibly re- 
gard him with the same deference with which the old mar- 
shals looked up to their mighty master. 

May24:th. — The elections are all over, and the Opposi- 
tion leaders are already busy in devising the means of 
attacking the Government. On Friday Palmerston went 
to Pembroke Lodge, and had a long conference with John 
Eussell. On Sunday there was a gathering there, attended by 
Granville, George Lewis, Charles Wood, and probably others. 
The question immediately to be decided is wliether an 
Amendment shall or not be moved to the Address. A very 
nice point of political strategy. The Whig leaders are im- 
patient to drive the Government to resignation, without, as 
I believe, knowing how they are to form a Government 
likely to be durable and strong. As matters stand, the 
Government appear to be too strong to be driven out, and 
not strong enough to count upon staying in. A greater fix 
can hardly be seen. 

Hay 26th. — Palmerston and John Eussell have now 
made up all their differences, and have come to a complete 
understanding and agreement on all points, so that the 
schism may be considered at an end. Upon Reform, upon 
foreign policy, upon the mode of opposition, they are fully 
agreed, and even upon their respective personal pretentions. 
Both are resolved not to quit the House of Commons, and 
Lord John himself says that the question of the Primacy 
must be determined by the Queen herself, and that whom- 
ever she may send for and charge with the formation of a 
Government must necessarily be Premier. There is not much 
doubt that this will be Palmerston, but what post Lord John 
would require for himself I have not heard. It may possibly 
be the Foreign Office, which Palmerston could hardly refuse 
to him, particularly as they are agreed on foreign policy, 
and Clarendon is not inclined to share their opinion. This 



488 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XYIII. 

reconciliation will be very favorable to Granville's preten- 
sions, and secure to him the lead of the House of Lords, and 
not improbably, at some not very distant day, lead to his 
being Prime Minister. In this age of political Methuselahs 
it is an enormous advantage to be little moi'e than forty 
years old. This state of alfairs I heard at Brooks's from 
tlie Duke of Bedford. It was Lord John who took the ini- 
tiative in their approaches to each other. He wrote to 
Palmerston, on which Palmerston repaired to Pembroke 
Lodge, where they had a long conversation, with the result 
aforesaid. Soon afterward I met Disraeli in the street. 
He did not appear to me to be in very high spirits, and 
talked of the position and chances of his Government with- 
out any expressions of confidence, though without despond- 
ence. He said he hoped that they would move an Amend- 
ment to the Address, as it was better to fight it out at once 
and bring the question of strength to a crisis. 

May 29th. — It seems not unlikely that the Government 
may be after all relieved from the immediate danger of an 
Amendment by the divisions amongst the Oj)position, or 
rather between the rival leaders. After all I was told of the 
meeting between Palmerston and Lord John, and the agree- 
ment they had come to on all the important points, I was 
astonished at hearing on Friday evening that everything 
was again thrown into uncertainty because Lord John would 
not say what he intended to do. On the important question 
of who should be Premier he would make no frank state- 
ment. He had, indeed, before said that the Queen must 
decide it, and the man she sent for would naturally be at 
the head of the Government ; but he refused to say whether, 
supposing Palmerston to be sent for, he would take ofiice with 
and under him, or even whether he would sit in the House 
of Commons on or behind the Treasury Bench — in short he 
would give no clear and positive assurance of his intentions. 
This is naturally very disgusting to the Whigs, and throws 
everything into doubt and confusion. The Duke of Bedford 
is to go down to him and tell him the plain truth, which no 
one else would venture to do, pointing out to him the effect 
of his conduct on the sentiments of the Liberal party and on 
his own position, with regard to which his conduct is inde- 
fensible and suicidal. It remains to be seen whether any 
effect will be produced on his mind, but in any case nothing 
can look more hopeless than it does, or promise worse for the 



1859.] A MEETING OF THE LIBERALS. 489 

future. Even though Lord John should consent to act 
under Palmerston (and nobody expects that it is Lord John 
for whom the Queen would send), there seems little hope of 
any cordial or lasting union between them, or of his being sat- 
isfied with any position in which he might consent to place 
himself, for his mind is evidently in a sour and jaundiced 
state. The majority of the Whig and Liberal party who are 
come up full of resentment from the elections are certainly 
desirous of attacking the Government, but there is a con- 
siderable number of them who are averse to joining in any 
vote of want of confidence, or any other move which may 
turn the Government out without first being assured that 
anotlier Government can be formed, and that the union is 
sufficiently complete to promise that such new Government 
would be strong enough to maintain itself when formed. 

June 6ih. — As I was at Epsom every day this week, I 
have heard nothing of what has been going on, except the 
fact that there is to be a great meeting of the Liberals at 
Willis's Rooms this afternoon, called by a list of people which 
includes Palmerston and Lord John and Milner Gibson, 
whose signature betokens the assent of the Radicals to the 
object of it, which I conclude to be an agreement as to the 
attack to be made on the Government to-morrow, and certain 
explanations as to the intentions and sentiments of the Whig 
leaders. I see that there are many dissentients from the 
course that is going to be adopted, many who think this at- 
tempt to oust the Government at once neither patriotic nor 
politic. Without any very decided opinion, or the means of 
forming one, I am rather inclined to think that it would be 
better to leave them alone, and to trust to their furnishing 
good cause for turning them out, as they probably will do. 
The Government does not appear to be obnoxious to any 
serious reproach and objection, except about their misman- 
agement of foreign affairs. But it is very questionable 
whether another Government might not give us a policy 
equally or still more mischievous. 

June 1th. — The meeting of the Opposition yesterday at 
Willis's Rooms went off as well as they could expect or de- 
sire. The two leaders gave the required assurances that each 
would serve under the other, in the event of either being sent 
for. There was a general concurrence in the plan of attack- 
ing the Government at once, in which even Bright and El- 
lice joined, the former disclaiming any desire for office in 



490 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOKIA. [Chap. XVm. 

his own person, but claiming it for his friends. The result 
promised is that with very few exceptions all the opponents 
or quasi-opponents of the Government will unite in support- 
ing the vote of want of confidence, and they are very confi- 
dent of success. On the other hand, the Derbyites do not 
despair of having a majority, and they comfort themselves 
with the certainty that the division must be so close, that 
the suecessful Whigs will be able to form no Government 
which will have a certain working majority, and, not im- 
possibly, that the majority itself may be turned into a mi- 
nority by the events of the re-elections. This is not very 
probable, and it is rather more likely that if Palmerston 
forms a Government, he will have the support of a good 
many of those who will vote with the Government, as long as 
they remain in. There were, however, some rather ominous 
manifestations made at this meeting. It seemed to be 
agreed that the new Government should embrace not only 
Whigs and Peelites, but ''Advanced Liberals," *'. e., the fol- 
lowers of Bright, and this, besides introducing the seeds of 
disunion, will probably frighten away the Liberal Conserva- 
tives, who would like to support Palmerston, Inasmuch as a 
Government so formed would afford little security for the 
maintenance of Conservative measures. Then Palmerston 
in no ambiguous terms announced his pro-Gallican sym- 
pathies, and the neutrality he declared for in every possible 
case which he could contemplate, together with his desire for 
a cordial union with France, can mean nothing but that 
under his rule England should look quietly on while France 
crushes Austria, and accomplishes all her ambitious and revo- 
lutionary objects. That this policy Avill be hateful to many 
who will be his colleagues cannot be doubted, but what is 
doubtful is whether those who will object to it will have 
virtue and firmness enough to decline oflSce rather tlian be 
parties to such a policy. 

June 9th. — There is great excitement about this debate 
and the probable division, and equal confidence on both 
sides of a majority. The Opposition is the favorite, but 
their friends will not lay any odds. Everybody says it must 
be very close, and on either side the majority will not ex- 
ceed ten. On the first night Disraeli made a capital speech, 
and nobody else on their side would speak at all. This was a 
sort of mancBuvre and attempt to bring about a division that 
night, for they found out that seventeen of the Opposition 



1859.] KESIGNATION OF LORD DERBY. 491 

had not taken their seats, which would have secured a ma- 
jority to the Government. The Whigs therefore refused to 
divide, and put up one man after another to keep the debate 
open, and eventually obtained an adjournment. Palmer- 
ston's speech was in accordance with his declaration at 
Willis's, and with his ancient practice ; it was violently pro- 
French and anti- Austrian, and it was full of gross falsehoods 
and misrepresentations, which he well knew to be such. In 
his seventy-fifth year, and playing the last act of his political 
life, he is just what he always was. 

Ju7ie 12th. — After a not very remarkable debate, the 
division yesterday n orning gave a majority of thirteen to 
the Opposition, which was more than either side expected.^ 
Derby resigned at eleven o'clock, and the Queen immediately 
after marked her sense of his conduct by sending him an 
extra Garter in an autograph letter. Much to his own sur- 
prise she sent for Granville (and for nobody else) and charged 
him with the formation of a Government. What passed be- 
tween Her Majesty and him I know not, but he accepted 
the commission and has been busy about it ever since. How 
he is to deal with Palmerston and Lord John, and to make 
such a project palatable to them I cannot imagine. What 
the Queen has done is a very significant notice to them of 
her great reluctance to have either of them at the head of 
affairs, and it cannot but be very mortifying to them to be 
invited to accept office under a man they have raised from 
the ranks, and who is young enough to be son to either, and 
almost to be grandson of the elder of the two. Nor will the 
mortification be less, after they have both so publicly avowed 
their expectations that one or other of them must be sent 
for, and their having, in what they consider a spirit of self- 
sacrifice, consented to serve under each other, but without 
ever saying or dreaming that it could be necessary to say 
they Avould take office under any third party. Nobody, in- 
deed, has ever thought of the possibility of any but one of 
them being called upon by Her Majesty, and the only ques- 
tion has been which it would be. 

Jwie IStJi. — Lord Granville told me yesterday evening 
what had passed, and that his mission was at an end, and 
Palmerston engaged in forming a Government. The account 

1 [The Amendment to the Address, implyinfj a want of confidence in Minis- 
ters, was moved by the Marquis of Hartinaton. The votes on the division 
were : For the amendment 323, against it 310.] 



492 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVIII. 

of it all apjoears in the "Times" this niorning quite cor- 
rectly. Granville was rather disappointed, but took it gayly 
enough, and I think he must have been aware from the first 
of the extreme difficulty of his forming a Government which 
was to include these two old rival statesman. Palmerston 
had the wisdom to accede at once to Granville's proposal, 
probably foreseeing that nothing would come of Granville's 
attempt, and that he would have all the credit of his com- 
plaisance and obtain the prize after all. The transaction 
has been a very advantageous one for Granville, and will in- 
evitably lead sooner or later to his gaining the eminence 
which he has only just missed now, which would have been 
full of difficulties and future embarrassments at the present 
time, but will be comparatively easy hereafter. Lord John's 
conduct will not serve to ingratiate him with the Queen, nor 
increase his popularity with the country.^ 

June 2Qth. — All the time that the formation of the new 
Government was going on I was at a cottage near Windsor 
for the Ascot races, and consequently I heard nothing of the 
secret proceedings connected with the selection of those who 
come in, and the exclusion of those who belonged to Palmer- 
ston's last Government, nor have I as yet heard what passed 
on the subject.^ The most remarkable of the exclusions is 
Clarendon's, who I was sure when the Foreign Office was 
siezed by John Eussell, would take nothing else ; and of the 

1 [It was tTie refusal of Lord John Eussell to serve under Lord Granville 
■which rendered the formation of a Cabinet by that statesman impossible. At 
the same time Lord John Eussell expressed his willingness to serve under Lord 
Palmerston on condition of his takintr the department of Foreign Aifairs.] 

2 [Lord Palmerston's second Administration consisted of the following mem- 
bers : 

First Lord of the Treasury .... Viscount Palmerston. 

Lord Chancellor Lord Campbell. 

Lord President Earl Granville. 

Lord Privy Seal Duke of Argyll. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer .... Mr. Gladstone. 

Home Secretary Sir George C. Lewis. 

Foreign Secretary Lord John Eussell. 

Colonial Secretary Duke of Newcastle. 

War Secretary " . Mr. Sidney Herbert. 

Indian Secretary Sir Charles Wood. 

Duchy of Lancaster Sii- George Grey. 

Postmaster General Earl of lilgin. 

Admiralty Duke of Somerset. 

Board of Trade Mr. Milner Gibson. 

Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland .... Earl of Carlisle. 

Irish Secretary Mr. Card well. 

This Administration lasted until the death of Lord Palmerston on October 18, 
1865.] 



1859.] SUCCESSFUL PROGRESS OF THE FRENCU IN ITALY. 493 

admissions, Gladstone's, who has never shown any good will 
toward Palmerston, and voted Avith Derby in the last division. 
This Government in its composition is curionsly, and may 
prove fatally, like that which Aberdeen formed in 1852, of a 
very Peelite complexion, and only with a larger proportion 
of Radicals, though not enough, it is said, to satisfy their 
organs, and Bright is displeased that he has not been more 
consulted, and probably at office not having been more 
pressed upon him. It is still very doubtful whether Cobden 
will accept the place offered, to him. 

The Tories are full of rancor, and express great confi- 
dence that this Government will not last, and. that they shall 
all bo recalled to power before the end of the year. Derby 
had a large gathering at Salisbury's house, when he made 
them a speech recommending union and moderation, the 
first of which recommendations they seem more likely to 
adopt than the second. The affair of his Garter was in this 
wise. On resigning he wrote to the Queen and besought 
her to bestow Red Ribbons on Malmesbury and Pakington. 
She wrote him an answer acceding to his request, and adding 
that she could not allow him to retire a second time from 
her service without conferring uyion him a mark of her 
sense of his services, and she therefore desired him to accept 
the Garter, though none was vacant. He told me this, and 
said it was the only way in which he could, have taken it, as 
he never should have given it to himself, and I believe if a 
vacancy had occurred he meant to have given it to the Duke 
of Hamilton. 

While we have been settling our Government for good or 
for evil, the war has continued to pursue its course of unin- 
terrupted success of the Allies, and unless something almost 
miraculous should occur, the Austrian dominion in Italy 
may be considered as at an end. The sentiments of people 
here are of a very mixed and almost contradictory character, 
for they are on the whole anti-Austrian, anti-French, and 
though more indulgent than they deserve to the Sardin- 
ians, not favorable to them. The most earnest and gen- 
eral desire is that we should keep out of the melee, and any 
termination of the war would be hailed with gladness, be- 
cause we should thereby be relieved from our apprehensions 
of being involved in it. "We should not be sorry to see tlie 
Austrians driven oiit of Italy for good and all, though most 
people would regret that the Emperor Louis Napoleon should. 



494 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVIII. 

be triumphant, and that such a course of perfidy, falsehood, 
and selfish ambition should be crowned with success. The 
Austrians deserve their fate, for nothing can exceed the folly 
of their conduct, first in rushing into the war, and thereby 
playing the whole game of their adversaries, and secondly 
in placing in command men evidently incapable, and who 
have committed nothing but blunders since the first day of 
the campaign. 

June %lth. — Yesterday I went to Kent House, where I 
found Clarendon and his sister alone, and we had a long 
talk, in the course of which he told me all that had passed 
(especially with regard to himself) about the formation of 
the Government. Although he spoke very good-naturedly 
about Grranville and his abortive attempt, I saw clearly that 
he thought Granville had been in the wrong to undertake it, 
and that he ought at once to have told the Queen it was 
impossible, and have declined it. Though Palmerston had 
given a qualified consent to act with him, it was with evident 
reluctance, and he had guarded it by saying it must be sub- 
ject to his approbation of tiie way m which the Government 
was composed. Lord John's consent was still more qualified, 
and he annexed to it a condition which at once put an end 
to the attempt. This was, as I had suspected, that he 
should be leader of the House of Commons. To this Palm- 
erston refused to agree, and so the whole thing fell to the 
ground. Granville, by Clarendon's advice, at once reported 
his failure to the Queen, gave her no advice as to whom she 
should send for, and of her own accord she sent for Palmer- 
ston. 

Previously to this, and I think before the vote, Palmerston 
and Clarendon had discussed the probability of Palmerston's 
forming a Government, when Palmerston told him he should 
expect him to return to the Foreign Ofiice. As soon as 
Palmerston had been with Her Majesty, he went off to Pem- 
broke Lodge, and saw Lord John ; told him all that had 
happened, and that he would of course take any office he 
pleased. Lord John said, "I take the Foreign Office," 
Palmerston said he had contemplated putting Clarendon 
there again, enumerating his reasons and Clarendon's claims, 
but that if he insisted on the Foreign Office as a right, he 
must have it. Lord John said, "1 do insist on it," and so 
it was settled. 

I ousfht to haA^e inserted that when Palmerston and Clar- 



1859.] LORD CLARENDON'S INTERVIEW WITH THE QUEEN. 495 

endon talked the matter over at first, Clarendon begged him 
not to think of him, and that if, as was probable, John Rus- 
sell desired the Foreign Office, he must give it him, for if 
he did not, or even made any difficulty, an immediate breach 
would be the consequence, and John Russell would get up a 
case against Palmerston which would be very embarrassing. 
Palmerston at first said he should certainly insist on Claren- 
don's not being put aside to please Lord John, but in the 
end Clarendon persuaded him not to adhere to that resolu- 
tion. After all was settled there was a small gathering at 
Cambridge House, when Palmerston told Clarendon that he 
might have the choice of any other office, but Clarendon 
replied that he was not conversant with Colonial, Indian, or 
War affairs, and he would not take an office for which there 
would be many candidates, while he much preferred being 
out, and Palmerston would not have half offices enough to 
satisfy the demands for them. Palmerston said he Avould 
not take this as his last word, and the next day the Queen 
sent for Clarendon, by Palmerston's own desire, to try and 
persuade him to take office. He went to Buckingham Pal- 
ace and had an audience, or rather interview, of three hours 
with Her Majesty and the Prince, in which she treated him 
with the most touching kindness and confidence, and ex- 
hausted all her powers of persuasion to induce him to join 
the Government, but he was firm and would not. She then 
said, in the event of a vacancy of the Foreign Office, " You 
must promise me you will take it," to which he replied, 
" Your Majesty knows I would do anything in the world for 
your service ; but you must allow me, in any case which may 
occur, to exercise my own discretion under the circum- 
stances, and to rest assured that I shall in every case be actu- 
ated solely by a desire to do what is best for your Majesty, 
and most conducive to your pleasure and interest." The 
Queen talked to Clarendon of the publication in the "Times" 
with much indignation, and said, "Whom am I to trust? 
These were my own very words." Clarendon, however, en- 
deavored to convince her that the article had in fact (how- 
ever indecorous it might appear) been eminently serviceable 
to her, inasmuch as it negatived any suspicion of intrigue or 
underhand dealing in any quarter, and represented her own 
conduct in a manner to excite universal approbation. He 
dilated on this in a way which made great impression both 
on the Prince and on her, and ultimately satisfied her that 



496 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVIII. 

all had been for the best, thereby acting a yery good-natured 
part and a very wise one. 

July Mil. — Cobden has declined to take office, though he 
was advised by his friends to accept, and he approves of 
Mihier Gibson and Charles Villiers having joined the Gov- 
ernment. The reasons he gives are that he has always been 
a strenuous opponent of Palmerston, and that his conduct 
will be liable to reproach in taking office under him, that he 
has been the advocate of economy and low establishments, 
and would find himself obliged to act very inconsistently, or 
to oppose his colleagues in a policy respecting which popular 
opinion would be against him ; but he expresses great satis- 
faction with Palmerston, who he says is a much better fellow 
than he was aware of, and he means to give the Government 
all the support in his power. These reasons do not seem 
sufficient for his not joining, which he had better have done. 
Granville laments Clarendon's having declined to take office 
as a Secretary of State, and that he will not be in the Cabi- 
net to throw into the scale of foreign policy his political 
weight. I said I knew nothing of his motives, but assuming 
that he did 7iot see foreign affairs in the same light as Palm- 
erston and John Russell, he would be placed in an awkward 
position before long. Granville said this might be true, but 
he thought before very long he would be at the Foreign 
Office again. What he meant by that I do not know. 

July IWi. — On Friday morning the world was electrified 
by reading in the " Times " that an armistice had been 
agreed upon between the belligerent Emperors in Italy, and 
the subsequent announcement that they were to have a per- 
sonal meeting yesterday morning, and the armistice to last 
for five weeks (till August 15th), led to a pretty general con- 
clusion that peace would be the result.' The Stock Ex- 
change take the same view, for everywhere and in all securi- 
ties there has been a great rise. I saw Geerge Lewis on Sun- 
day and asked him if the Government had any intelligence, 
when he told me that the only thing, besides what had ap- 
peared in the papers, was that France had proposed to us 
to interpose our mediation on the basis of Austria giving up 
everything, and Prussia had made the same proposal on 
the basis of Austria giving up nothing, both which pro- 
posals we had very naturally declined. 

J [The battle of Solferiao was fought on Jime 24, and an armistice between 
the Emperors of France and Austria was signed at Villafranca on July 7.] 



1859.] PEACE CONCLUDED. 497 

Jidy IZth. — We had scarcely had time to begin discuss- 
ing and speculating on the probable results of the armistice, 
before the news of peace being actually concluded burst 
upon us. As yet we have only the great fact itself and the 
skeleton of the arrangement, and we shall probably be for 
some time without materials for judging as to the merits of 
the Treaty of Peace and its probable consequences, but the 
first impressions and the first ideas that present themselves 
may be worth recording. There is no denying that the 
Emperor Napoleon has played a magnificent part, and what- 
ever we may think of his conduct, and the springs of his 
actions, he appears before the world as a very great char- 
acter.^ Though he can lay no claim to the genius and intel- 
lectual powers of the first Napoleon, he is a wiser and a so- 
berer man, with a command over himself and a power of 
self-restraint, and consequently of moderation in pursuit of 
objects, which the other did not possess, and therefore while 
the towering genius of the uncle led him on through mag- 
nificent achievements and stupendous vicissitudes to his ruin, 
it appears highly probable that the better regulated mind 
and the habitual prudence of the nephew will preserve him 
from the commission of similar errors, and render his cai'eer 
somewhat less splendid, but more durable and infinitely more 
beneficial to his country. 

With regard to the present affair, the first thing we must 
be struck with is the way in which the King of Sardinia has 
been treated. Napoleon, indeed, tosses him a large share of 
the spoils, but not only was, he not admitted to the Con- 
ference which led to peace, but he does not appear to have 
been consulted upon it any more than any of the French 
generals ; the only notice that was taken of the King (so 
far as we know) being that he was ordered, upon the conclu- 

1 [Tlie conclusion of the peace after the battle of Solferino -was creditable to 
the Emperor Napoleon, but was no indication of a ijreat character. His motives 
vffsre that he had not the means of undertakini,'' a siei<e of the creat fortresses of 
the Quadrilateral, and that if the war had been prolonsfed it was not improbable 
that the forces of the Germanic Confederation, including Prussia, would have 
taken the field ajjainst France. He therefore acted Ts-isely in tcrminatintr the 
war, and if the Austrians bad withdrawn within the Quadrilateral and refused 
to treat, the Emperor Napoleon might have been placed in great difficulties. 
As it was, he broke his engagement to Cavour to liberate Italy from the Alps to 
the sea, and to Kossuth to support a Hungarian insurrection. Italy eventually 
owed tlie liberation of Venice, not to France, but to Prussia, as tlie reward for 
Ler combined action with that Power in the war of 1866. 

Cf. the account of the manner in which the peace was concluded in Lord 
Malmcsbury's "Autobiography," vol. ii. p. 200.] 



498 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVIII. 

sion of the armistice, to desist from the siege of Peschiera, 
I had heard before that the Emperor was extremely dis- 
gusted with his ally and Cavour, and at all that the latter 
had said and done, at the proclamations and other docu- 
ments he had put forth, and at the audacious manner in 
which that Government had annexed every scrap of terri- 
tory they could lay their hands on, and assumed the gov- 
ernment of every State that they could manage to revolu- 
tionize, and all without the sanction and concurrence of the 
Emperor. Nothing is more likely than that the Italian 
War will not be closed without much bickering and heart- 
burning between the two allies, and that the King and his 
Cavour will find, in spite of all they are to obtain, that they 
will have no bed of roses to repose upon after their fatigues 
and labors.^ 

Then, so far as we can judge of the settlement, it seems 
one that is likely to give more offence and disappointment 
than satisfaction to the bulk of the Italian people, and to 
imagine that affairs will relapse or resolve themselves into 
a peaceable and quiescent state is a mere delusion. "What 
passed between the two Emperors we may perhaps never 
know, though the effects of their interview may one day 
becomes dangerously apparent ; but it is not unreasonable to 
conjecture that Napoleon exerted all his arts and blandish- 
ments to make a friend of Francis Joseph, and to persuade 
him that a cordial alliance with France would be more ad- 
vantageous to him than one with England, and he might 
with every appearance and much of the reality of truth 
tell him that England had done nothing for him ; that 
neither the Government nor the nation had any sympathies 
with Austria, whom, so far from assisting, they had gladly 
seen defeated in Italy ; and that the forbearance of the 
Emperor in leaving Austria in possession of any part of Italy 
would be unpalateable to Palmerston and John Eussell, and 
generally unpopular. One cannot but suspect that an alli- 
ance was at least projected, if not formed, between the three 
great despotic Powers, France, Austria, and Eussia, for the 
purpose of domineering over Europe, and dealing with the 
several States according to their pleasure, or the pleasure of 
France, and with the ultimate object of attacking, weaken- 
ing, and humbling England. 

1 [M. de Cavonr bitterly resented the prompt conclusion of peace, and for a 
time quitted the Ministry of which he was the head.] 



1859.] THE CONFERENCE OF THE EMPERORS. 499 

Of all the provisions of this treaty that which regards 
the sovereignty of the Pope is the most curious and seems 
the most difficult to carry out ; it is indicative of the ne- 
cessity under which the Emperor thinks he is placed of dis- 
arming the hostility and consulting the prejudices of the 
Catholic party and the Church in France. Whether the 
Pope will accept the temporal office assigned to him may be 
doubted, but it can hardly be doubted that his supremacy 
will not be willingly accepted and acknowledged by the 
Italians generally, to whom the Papal rule is already odious.^ 
One cannot but feel glad at the deep mortification and dis- 
appointment which will overtake the Eepublicans and So- 
cialists, the Mazzinis, Garibaldis, Kossuths, et lioc genus 
omne, at a pacification so ruinous to all their hojoes and de- 
signs. Clarendon told me he believed the account in the 
" Times " of the compact between the Emperor and Kossuth, 
and nothing is more likely than that at the beginning of the 
contest ho employed Kossuth in the way stated, and gave 
him all sorts of promises, and when he found he could do 
everything sifie tali auxilio, and that he had a stronger in- 
terest in making friends with Austria, he threw Kossuth 
over Ivithoiit scruple or hesitation. This is exactly the 
course he would be likely to follow.^ 

July 15th. — The news of the peace took everybody so 
much by surprise, that people had no time to arrange their 
thoughts upon it ; but, in the midst of the general satisfac- 
tion that the war is over, it is already apparent that there is 
an explosion of disappointment and resentment to come. 
All the Italian sympathisers here are in despair, Palmerston 
is much dissatisfied, and the an ti- Austrian Press is indignant. 
The King of Sardinia has not openly testified any ill-humor, 
and has published an Address to his new Lombard subjects 
in a joyful style, but it is impossible he should not deeply 
feel and resent tiie contemptuous way in which he has been 
treated by his Imperial ally, and the resignation of Cavour 
is a clear manifestation of Jiis feelings on the subject. 

When it was announced that an interview was to take 
place between the two Emperors, everybody predicted that 
the elder of the two would have as much success in diplo- 

' [It was proposed by the Sovereigns to place the Pope at the head of an 
Italian Confederation — a wild scheme, which entirely failed.] 

* [This was so. The details of Kossuth's negotiations with the Emperor 
have been published by Kossuth himself in his memoirs.] 



500 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVIII. 

macy over his rival as he had already obtained in arms, but 
the result does not appear to bear out that expectation, 
though we do not yet know what the real motives of the 
Emperor Napoleon were in concluding such an extraordinary 
peace. Granville told me that at this interview the Austrian 
Emperor had taken a very high line, and shown little dis- 
position to concession. He said to Napoleon, " You have 
conquered Lombard y, and I do not contemplate making any 
attempt to recover it. I am therefore quite ready to cede it 
to you, and you will deal with it as you please. I have 
nothing to say to the King of Sardinia, and make no conces- 
sions to him. With regard to Venetia, and the country of 
which I remain in possession, I have nothing to concede or 
to offer, all that I mean to retain, but I have no objection to 
my Venetian dominions forming part of the Italian Confed- 
eration." They appear to have had a vast deal of conversation 
and discussion, for they are said to have been together for 
above twelve hours. What they talked about it would be 
interesting to know, but which they will neither of them tell 
us. The field for speculation is as wide as can well be. How 
the settlement of Italy is to be accomplished, how the Italians 
are to be contented, and how peace in that country is to be 
permanently secured, are questions enough to puzzle the 
acutest politicians. 

We congratulate ourselves at having kept entirely clear 
both of the war and the peace, but no doubt Palmerston is 
mortified, and I think England generally will be provoked 
that changes of such importance should have been made 
without any consultation or even communication with us. 

The friends of the Emperor Napoleon say that they be- 
lieve his motive for making peace on any terms he could get 
to have been principally that he was so shocked and disgust- 
ed at the fearful scenes of pain and misery that he had to 
behold after the battle of Solferino, in addition to the other 
battle-fields, and at the spectacle of thousands of killed and 
wounded presented to his eyes, that his nerves could not bear 
it. Lady Cowley told me that he was so tender-hearted that 
he could not bear the sight of pain, much less being the cause 
of inflicting it, and she had seen him quite upset after visit- 
ing hospitals at the sufferings he had witnessed there, which 
of course are not to be compared with the horrible scene of 
a battle-field. It is impossible to say that this may not be 
true, wholly or in part ; it is impossible to account for human 



1859.] THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN. 501 

idiosyncrasies ; but it is quite certain that the man who is 
said to shrink with horror from the sight of suffering does 
not scruple to inflict it in quite as bad a form when he does 
not himself witness the infliction. He has hundreds and 
tliousands of 2",eople torn from their families, and without 
form of trial or the commission of any crime sends them to 
linger or perish in pestilential climates, when he fancies it 
his interest to do so, and for their sufferings he evinces no 
pity or any nervous sensations. 

August 1th. — I have found it impossible to collect any- 
thing to record in this book for the last month almost. The 
session is drawing to a close, having glided on without diffi- 
culty for the Government, and almost without opposition. 
The Election Committees have made great havoc in Palmer- 
ston's small majority, having unseated no less than seven 
Liberal members. I am told, perhaps on no good authority, 
that Palmerston, John Russell, and Gladstone are anxious 
to join in a Congress to mix themselves up in the settlement 
of Italian affairs, but that they cannot have their way, the 
majority of the Cabinet being opposed to it, and the House 
of Commons and the country (as represented by the Press) 
being decidedly against any such reference.^ 

I met Edward Mildmay the other day, who gave me some 
account of his own personal experiences during the last 
Italian campaign, when he was attached to the Austrian 
Army. He confirmed all previous accounts of the excellence 
of that army and the incompetency of its chiefs ; that noth- 
ing could have saved the French Army at Magenta if the 
Austrians had been tolerably commanded ; that Giulai, who 
had never seen any service, had been allowed to retain the 
command by the influence of General Griinne, whose friend 
he is, and that the indignation and disgust of the army at 
having been thus sacrificed to Court favor and partiality had 
been extreme. He told me that at Solferino the Austrian 
loss was (within a fraction of) 20,000, the French 19,000, 
and the Sardinians 9,000 men ; Benedek is the ablest of the 
Austrian generals, and if he had had the command probably 

' [I think it wa'* at this time that Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell 
proposed to the Cabinet that England should enter into a Treaty of Alliance 
with France and Sardiniaj but the proposal was netratived by their colleagues. 
The feeUnirs of these Ministers, however, speedily changed when the cession of 
Savoy and Nice, and the manner in wliicii it was brought about, were known, 
and their langua<je became so hostile that it gave great offence to the Emperor 
Napoleon. See Lord Malmesbury, "Autobiography," vol. ii. p. 225.J 



503 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [CiiAr. XVIII. 

affairs would have taken a yery different turn. Mildmay has 
no doubt that peace was much more necessary to the French 
than to the Austrians, and he still believes that if the war 
had continued the tide of victory would have been rolled 
back, as the latter had 90,000 fresh troops coming into line. 
It is probably better as it is than if the Austrians had re- 
covered all their losses : the Emperor Napoleon seems likely 
to be satisfied with his military exploits, and to be really 
intending to revert to his peaceful policy. He is certainly 
doing all he can to persuade the world that such is his in- 
tention, and there seems a disposition here to take him at 
his word. 

Viceregal Lodge, Phoenix Parle, August 22d. — I have at 
last accomplished the object I have desired for so many years, 
and find myself in Ireland. I have seized the first oppor- 
tunity of being my own master to come here. I left Lon- 
don the week before last, and went to Nun ApiDleton, thence 
to Grimstone, and on Saturday I came here, railing through 
York and Manchester to Holyhead ; crossed over on a beau- 
tiful evening, with sea as smooth as glass, but it was too 
dark to see the Bay of Dublin. Most hospitably received by 
Lord Carlisle, and very comfortably lodged. Passed the day 
in Dublin yesterday ; twice at church, in the morning at 
Christ Church, afternoon St. Patrick's, attracted by the 
celebrity of the choir and the performance of the cathedral 
service, which was finely done, though the best voices (three 
brothers Eobinson) were absent. I am greatly struck by the 
fineness of the town of Dublin, and of the public buildings 
especially. 

Dtcblin, Augtisf. 23d. — On Monday morning the Lord- 
Lieutenant went to pay his first visit since his return to 
the National School and took me with him. I was much 
gratified at the sight, with the appearance of the chil- 
dren and their intelligence. There was a grand gather- 
ing of Commissioners and others to meet Carlisle, but no 

Catholics except Lord Bellew and Dean , who alone of 

all the Catholic ecclesiastics has had courage and resolution 
to adhere to the system. Not one Catholic Bishop now re- 
mains on the board. Bishop Denver was the last to resign, 
which it is believed he did reluctantly, but it seems that the 
rule of their Synod is, that when a majority has decided, 
those who are in the minority give in their adhesions, and 
produce unanimity. The National System is apparently in 



1859.] A VISIT TO IRELAND. 503 

the crisis of its fate, and a desiderate struggle is being made 
by the Popish clergy to destroy it, while the ultra-Protes- 
tants will join them (for different reasons and with different 
objects) for the same end. I earnestly hope these factions 
will fail. The most encouraging circumstance is found in 
the return which was given me of the ''Central Model 
Schools," in which the number of pupils seeking admission 
is 1,179, an evident proof of the popularity of the system, 
and that up to this time the priests have not been able to 
deter their flocks from giving their children its benefits. 
This return is sufficiently interesting to be copied into this 
journal : — 





Males 


Females 


Infants 


Number of pupils on roll 


. 564 


447 


375 


Pupils ill attendance 


. 436 


348 


311 


Seeking admission 


. 203 


866 


110 



Carlisle was received with great enthusiasm by both 
pupils and teachers. After this we went to the Hill of 
Killinie, whence there is a grand panoramic view of the 
Bay of Dublin and the surrounding country, and then to 
my old friend Lady Campbell ^ (Pamela Fitz-Gerald), whose 
beautiful daughters are as well worth seeing as anything in 
Ireland. 

Dublin, August 2Uh. — Yesterday in the morning a re- 
view in the Phoenix Park, after which Bagot took me to 
Howth Castle, which I was curious to see, but it is not very 
remarkable, though very ancient. It has a modernized ap- 
pearance, and is a comfortable house, said to be the oldest 
inhabited house in Ireland, arid one of the towers of fabulous 
antiquity. I remarked that the hall door was left open, ac- 
cording to the traditional obligation. One of the Ladies St. 
Lawrence told me the story as follows : An old woman, "the 
Granawhile," came to the castle and asked for hospitality or 
alms, and was refused and driven away. She was the wife 
of a pirate. On the seaside she found the young heir with 
his nurse, whom she seized and carried off. Afterward she 
brought the boy back, and consented to restore him on con- 
dition that henceforward no beggar should be refused admit- 
tance, that the hall door should be kept continually open, 
and that at dinner a place should be kept and a plate laid 
for any stranger who might ajspear. The beggars are kept 

1 [Lady Campbell was the daughter of Pamela and Lord Edward Fitz- 
Gerald. I ' 



504 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOKIA. [Chap. XVIIL 

away by not being admitted through the lodge gates ; the 
hall door is open, but there is another door behind it, and 
the vacant place has by degrees fallen into disuse. I know 
not how old the story is, but there is enough to show that it 
had a foundation of some sort, and that it retains a relic in 
the customs of the family. On returning to Dublin I went 
to see Trinity College, and the beautiful museum erected a 
few years ago. Dublin is, for its size, a finer town than 
London, and I think they beat us hollow in their public 
buildings. We have no such squares as Merrion Square, nor 
such a street as Sackville Street. 

Besshorough, August 26th. — I came here on Wednesday 
via Kilkenny. A very nice place, comfortable, and in as 
good order as any place in England. People apparently well 
off, and cottages clean and not uncomfortable. 

August 28th. — Went yesterday to Waterford ; pretty good 
town, but looking very foreign. They showed me a hill, to 
which it is said Cromwell advanced, but found the town too 
strong to be attacked ; hence Waterford has been called the 
Urbs invicta. I doubt the story, for he would have stormed 
Waterford easily enough if he had chosen. Saw the National 
School ; a very good establishment, boys absent on holidays, 
but a very civil intelligent master, a Eoman Catholic. The 
clergy of neither persuasion will come near the school, ex- 
cept the Dean of Waterford, who still supports it. Went 
on to Curraghmore, a vast and magnificent park, but a mean 
house. 

August 31s/. — Went on Tuesday to Woodstock ; very 
pretty place, and in admirable trim. Weather changing, 
and I fear I shall see Killarney in rain and cold. 

Viceregal Lodge, September 6th. — Went to Muckrosson 
Thursday last ; passed three days there in exquisite enjoy- 
ment of the beautiful scenery of Killarney ; weather was 
perfect, and I went over and round all the lakes ; returned 
here on Monday, and went yesterday to the Curragh, 

Jervaulx Abbey, Sunday, September 11th. — Crossed over 
from Kingstown to Holyhead on Thursday last ; beautiful 
passage. Passed the last day, Wednesday, "in Dublin with 
William Fitzgerald seeing the town. He took me over the 
old Leinster House, now the Eoyal Institution, and then to 
the Bank to see the Old House of Lords ; a fine room, exactly 
as it was, and what was the House of Commons, now com- 
pletely altered and not retaining a vestige of the famous 



1859.] NUMEROUS CEBINETS. 505 

locality where Flood and Grattan and Plunkett once shook 
the walls with their eloquence. I left Ireland with regret, 
for I spent several very happy days there, interested and 
amused even more than I expected, and treated with great 
kindness and hospitality. Went from Holyhead to Man- 
chester, and pn to Worsely to sleep ; came here on Friday. 
The old Abbey is very picturesque, and very perfect as a 
ruin. It reminds me, place and all, of Bolton Abbey. 

London, ISeptemher 26th. — I stayed three days at Jervaulx, 
then to Doncaster, Bretby, and to town. All the Ministers 
in London, having passed their lives during the last fortnight 
in the railway or in Cabinets, which have been very numerous, 
as well they may, for they have plenty to occupy them in the 
Italian, Chinese, and American questions, all, in their several 
ways and degrees, extremely embarrassing. I have not the 
slightest conception what our Government are doing about 
the Italian question, but I suppose trying to keep well with 
Napoleon III., and to obtain good terms for the Italian 
Duchies. At present it looks as if a Congress would be got 
together to untie this complicated knot, but I fear we are 
not likely to play in it a part which will be consistent with 
our principles, or creditable to our national character, and I 
wish we could abstain from having anything to do with it. 
The incident about the American Boundary is awkward, but 
I feel confident it will be amicably settled. 

The Chinese affair is the most serious, and one can see 
no solution of it that is not full of objections and embarrass- 
ments.^ In the first place it looks at present very much as 
if our ca?e was a bad one. We had no business to go with 
an armament and force our way up the river, and even if we 
were upon any ground justified in such an extreme measure, 
it was to the last degree impolitic and unwise to exercise 
such a right. The object for which Bruce was sent to China 
was to conclude a peace, and to establisli amicable relations 
with the Chinese Government, and it might have occurred 
to him that the employment of force, even if it was ever so 
successful, must infallibly defeat his object. It required no 

I [Mr. Bruce having been detained in his mission to Pekin, which was of a 
pacific character, Admiral Hope made an attempt to force the passage by rc- 
ducinij tlie forts at the mouth of the Peiho. The attaclv failed, with a loss of 
nearly 400 men killed and wounded in the storming party and the gunboats. 
The "Plover" and "Lee" gunboats grounded, and the "'Cormorant^' was so 
daraaged by the enemy's fire that she sank soon afterward. The whole pro- 
ceedmg was injudicious and disastrous.] 
22 



506 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVHL 

great sagacity to perceive that the arrival at Pekin of a 
victorious Ambassador, who had forced his way to the capital 
at the head of an imposing force, would not serve to make 
his reception a friendly one, or toestablish permanent har- 
monious relations between the English and the Chinese 
Governments. As long as there was a possibility of procur- 
ing access to Pekin by peaceful means and by negotiation, it 
would have been better to be patient and to wait any time 
than to employ force ; and besides the political objections 
that seem conclusive against the adoption of such a course, 
it seems highly probable that no such force as that which 
we employed on this occasion could have been pushed on 
into the heart of the country without imminent danger of 
its being cut off and eventually destroyed. The mere fact 
of destroying again the Peiho forts would be deemed by 
the Chinese as the renewal of the war, and the perpetrator 
of the outrage would not have been received in the sacred 
character of an Ambassador, but would have been looked on 
as an invader, and treated accordingly. This is the first 
view of the question which presents itself. Then comes that 
of vindicating our honor, and retrieving the disaster we have 
suffered, which involves the necessity of rushing into war 
again and scattering havoc and desolation through the coun- 
try, massacring thousands of people who can make no effect- 
ual resistance to our power, and making territorial conquests, 
which will only embarrass us, and which we shall have more 
difficulty in getting rid of than we shall have in making their 
acquisition. In short, we are going to be engaged in a con- 
test in which failure will be disgraceful, and success will be 
inconvenient, and to place additional obstacles in the way of 
that good understanding which it is so much our interest to 
establish with China. Nor are our difficulties diminished 
by the fact of being connected with, and therefore more or 
less dependent on the French, and in a less degree with the 
Eussians and the Americans in this unfortunate contest. 
This local and accidental alliance impairs our freedom of 
action, and of necessity introduces delays and complications 
of all sorts into the affair. 

October \Wi. — Nearly a month and nothing to record, 
besides the events of the day, of which I know nothing more 
than the newspapers report. I only take u.p my pen now 
because Clarendon calle"d on me, and it is worth while to 
recollect the little he told me during a very short visit. I 



1859.] LORD CLARENDON AT OSBORNE. 507 

had not seen him since his visit to Osborne in the summer, 
and he began by giving me an account of it. The Queen was 
delighted to have him with her again and to have a good 
long confidential talk with him, for it seems she finds less 
satisfaction in her intercourse with either Palmerston or 
Lord John. The relations of these two are now most inti- 
mate and complete, and Palmerston has obtained an entire 
influence and authority over Lord John, who only sees with 
his eyes and without any contest submits to be entirely 
guided and controlled by Palmerston. The jeu of the thing 
is rather amusing. Palmerston, who is thoroughly versed in 
foreign aifairs (while Lord John knows very little about 
them), in every important case suggests to Lord John what 
to do. Lord John brings it before the Cabinet as his own 
idea, and then Palmerston supports him, as if the case was 
new to him. 

But to return to the Queen and Clarendon. He was un- 
fortunately attacked by gout and confined to his room. He 
was sitting there with Lady Clarendon, when Lady Gains- 
borough came in and told him that she was desired by the 
Queen to beg he would if possible move into the next room 
(the Lady-iu-waiting's room) and establish himself there ; 
that the Queen would come in, when all the ladies present 
were to go away and leave her tete-a-tete with him. All this 
was done, and she remained there an hour and a half, talk- 
ing over everything, pouring all her confidences into his 
ears, and asking for his advice about everything. He said 
he had endeavored to do as much good as he could by smooth- 
ing down her irritation about things she did not like. As an 
example, he mentioned that while the Prince was with him 
a box was brought in with a despatch from Lord John, which 
the Prince was to read. He did so with strong marks of 
displeasure, and then read it to Clarendon, saying they could 
not approve it, and must return it to Lord John. Claren- 
don begged him not to do this, that it was not the way to 
deal with him, and it would be better to see what it con- 
tained that really was good and proper, and to suggest emen- 
dations as to the rest. He persuaded the Prince to do this, 
advised him what to say, and in the end Lord John adopted 
all the suggestions they had made to him. On another oc- 
casion the Queen had received a very touching letter from 
the Duchess of Parma imploring her protection and good 
offices, which she sent to Lord John desiring he would 



508 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVIII. - 

write an answer for her to make to it. He sent a very 
short, cold answer, which the Queen would not send. She 
asked Clarendon to write a suitable one for her, which he 
did, but insisted that she should send it to Lord John as her 
own. She did so, Lord John approved, and so this matter 
was settled. 

Newmarket, October 21st. — Clarendon told me, and has 
since written to me, that Government regard in a very seri- 
ous light the approaching war between Spain and Morocco, 
which they think will have the effect of putting Gibraltar in 
peril ;^ that Spain is playing the part of catspaw to France, 
who wants to get possession of Morocco, giving Tangier to 
Spain, which would give her, and France through her, the 
command of both sides the Straits, and as we depend upon 
Tangier for supplies to Gibraltar, it would be difficult for us 
to hold the place when this scheme is accomplished. He 
writes to-day : " No news to-day except that things look very 
fishy with Spain and Morocco, and I suspect we are going to 
be vigorous, which, though it may be expedient, may also be 
productive of much trouble." 

He was lately at Broadlands, and had much talk with 
Palmerston, who was very friendly and confidential, told him 
everything, and appeared very anxious to have his opinions 
and advice. He says that Palmerston's hatred- of Austria 
amounted to a monomania, and this of course produces a 
divergence between the present policy of France and onrs. 
He talked about America. When Clarendon was lately at 
Clumber he discussed that affair with the Duke of Newcastle 
and offered to write to Buchanan, with whom it seems he 
is in correspondence, and say to him what it is desirable 
should be said, unofficially; and he suggested that he should 
hold out to Buchanan the prospect of a visit from the Prince 
of Wales, who it seems is going to Canada some time or other. 
This the Duke mentioned at the Cabinet, where the proposal 
was highly approved, but when it was broached to the Queen, 
Her Majesty objected to anything being said about the Prince 
of Wales going to the United States, so it fell to the ground.* 

\ [On October 22, Sjiain declared war on Morocco, on the ground that further 
territory was requh"ed for the protection of lier settlements on the North African 
coast._ Tetuan was captured by the Spaniards on February 4, 1860, and peace 
was signed on April 27, the Emperor of Morocco paying an indeumity of twenty 
million piastres. Marshal O'Donnell, who had commanded the expedition, was 
created Duke of Tetuan.] 

2 [Whatever may have been the objection to the mention of the Prince of 



1859.] A VISIT FROM CLARENDON. 509 

London, October 30th. — Clarendon came to town yesterday 
morning on bis way to Windsor and called here. He told 
me that we were going to send a representative to the Con- 
gress, and I was not a little surprised to perceive that he 
would not be at all disinclined to go there himself. He did 
not indeed say so, but unless I am greatly deceived this is in 
his mind, though not without feelmg the difficulty of his 
acting with John Kussell. Clarendon says that the prepara- 
tions going on in France are on the most enormous scale, 
and can have no object but one hostile to this country, and 
that the feeling against England is fomented by the Govern- 
ment and extending all over France. He is persuaded that 
the fixed purpose of Louis Napoleon is to humble this 
country, and deprive her of the great influence and author- 
ity she has hitherto exercised over the affairs of Europe. 
He is bent upon getting us to take part in the Congress, and 
that in order to persuade us he will pretend to be entirely 
agreed with us in opinion, and only wishing to concert the 
most proper means of carrying out our common objects, and 
when he has thus cajoled us into a participation he will 
throw us over, and place us under the necessity of agreeing 
to what we disapprove, or of putting ourselves en desaccord 
with all Europe. He told me that John Russell is supposed 
on the Continent to be the implacable enemy of the Catholic 
religion, and this will be a great disqualification for his 
acting at a Congress mainly composed of Catholic Powers ; 
that this opinion, which is rife in Ireland, is propagated all 
over the world, and that the recollections of the Durham 
Letter and the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill are still as strong 
as ever.' 

November IStJi. — Last week at the Grove to meet the Due 
d'Aumale, who is one of the most enlightened and agreeable 
Princes I ever met, very simple and natural, and full of 
information and knowledge of all sorts. 

Wales's visit to the United States at this moment, the project did not fall to the 
ground, for on July 9 in the following year (1860) the Prince started on a visit 
to Canada and the' United States, accompanied by the Duke of Newcastle, where 
he was entertained by President Buchanan on October 25.] 

' [The Congress which it was proposed to hold had reference to the affairs 
of Italy, which were extremely perplexing to the Emperor Napoleon himself. 
But Lord Clarendon's apprehensions were" certainlj' unfounded, for it deserves 
to be remarked that about this time negotiations were opened between the 
Emperor and Mr. Cobden for a commercial treaty, which was intended to 
strengthen, and did strengthen, the amiable and pacific relations ot France and 
England,] 



510 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVIII. 

I do not remember to have gathered anything particu- 
larly interesting from Clarendon in our various conversations, 
except that in the event of our consenting to Join the Con- 
gress he would not be unwilling to go to it, and that he 
thinks he might be able to effect an arrangement. This 
confidence has in great measure been produced by a letter 
from Cowley which he showed me, containing an account 
of his visit to Biarritz and his communications with the 
Emperor. He said he had resolved not to say a word to 
His Majesty of Italian affairs, thinking the Emperor would 
abstain from talking of them to him, but as soon as they 
met he began to talk, and went at length into the whole 
subject. The upshot was that he found the Emperor in 
such a state of perplexity and embarrassment, and so fully 
conscious of the scrape into which he had got himself, that 
he did not know what to do or which way to turn ; his 
object evidently is to get us to help him out of his difficulty, 
and Clarendon thinks that he should be able to draw him 
into such measures as we could support if the matter was 
well managed. 

A day or two ago the Duke of Bedford, whom I have not 
seen or communicated with for a long time, called on me. 
He told me one curious anecdote, which he had heard from 
his brother. Persigny called on Lord John one day, and 
told him he was come in strict confidence to show him the 
letter which the Emperor had written to the King of Sardinia, 
but which he must not mention even to his own colleagues, 
except of course to Palmerston. Lord John promised he 
would not, and a day or two after he read the letter in the 
"Times." He sent for Persigny and asked for an explana- 
tion. Persigny said he could not explain it, but would write 
to Walewski. John Eussell also wrote to Cowley, who spoke 
to Walewski about it. Walewski declared he could not 
account for it, and that it must have been sent from Turin, 
and he would write to that Court to complain of the indiscre- 
tion and would also speak to the Emperor. He went to the 
Emperor, told him what had passed, and showed him what 
he proposed to write to Turin, when the Emperor said : " No, 
don't write at all, take no notice of the publication. The 
fact is, I sent the letter myself to the ' Times ' Correspond- 
ent." It was Mocquard who tookitto him. A most extraor- 
dinary proceeding, and showing the extreme difficulty of 
all diplomatic dealing between the two Governments. The 



1859.] PROSPECTS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 511 

Emperor is by way of being indignant with the " Times," and 
never fails to pour forth complaints and abuse of the paper 
to whomever he converses with. He did so, for instance, to 
Cobden, to whom he gave an audience at Paris. But who 
can tell whether this is not a pretence and a deceit, and 
whether he may not all the time have a secret understand- 
ing with the " Times" ? Such a supposition would seem to 
be inconsistent with their articles and his conduct, and the 
comments of the former upon the latter ; but how difficult 
it is to form any certain judgment upon a jwlicy so tortuous 
as his, and upon designs so close and councils so crooked ! 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Prospects of the (Jovernment and of the Opposition — Mr. Disraeli's commanding' Position 
— Preparation of a Reform Bill — A Congress — Death of Macaiilay — The Affairs of Italy 
— Policy of the Emperor Napoleon — Ihe Commercial Treaty with France — M. de 
Cavour resumes Office— Opening of Parliament — Negotiation ot the Commercial Treaty 
— The Emperor a Free I'rader — Perplexity of Italian Affairs — Moderation of Lord 
Derby — Opposition ti) the Commercial Treaty— The Keform Bill of IStJO — Tory Oppo- 
sition to Reform — Mr. Gladstone's great Budget Speech — Opposition to the Treaty 
and the Budget — Triumph of Mr. Gladstone — The Italian Correspondence — Demo- 
cratic Opinions of Mr. Gladstone— Introduction of the Reform Bill— The Annexation 
of Savoy and Nice — Annexation of Tuscany to Piedmont — The Denouement of the 
Plot— Complete Apathy of the Country as to Reform— Lord Derby declines to inter- 
fere — Lord John's adverse Declaration to France — Consequences of Lord John's Speech 
against France — Our Position in Europe — Anecdote of the Crimean War— Designs of 
the Emperor Napoleon in 185S — Lord Palmerston's Distrust of Napoleon III. — Lord 
John's Indifference to his own Keform Bill— Mr. Gladstone's Ascendency — Designs of 
the Emperor and Cavour — Unpopularity of the Reform Bill— Correspondence of Lord 
Grey and Lord John Russell — Reaction against Mr Gladstone's Measures — Opposition 
to the Repeal of the Paper Duties— Coolness with Franco— Garibaldi's Expedition — 
Lord Palmerston attacks the Neapolitan Minister — The Paper Duti^'S Bill rejected by 
the Lords — The Keform Bill withdra^vn — Lord Palmerston adjusts the Difference be- 
tween the two Houses — Mr. Gladstone supported by the Radicals — Mr. Senior's Con- 
versations in Paris — A Letter from the Speaker — Mr. Cobden's Faith in the Emperor 
Napoleon — Conclusion of these Journals. 

London, December 25t7i, 1859. — The Government are get- 
ting ready for the session which is near at hand, Palmerston 
with his usual confidence, but Granville, who is not naturally 
desponding, and who I dare say represents the feeling of his 
colleagues, is conscious of the want of that strength and 
security which a commanding majority alone can give, and, 
without thinking the danger great or imminent, anticipates 
the possibility of their being defeated on some vital question. 
The Opposition, conscious of their numerical force, but any- 
thing but united, profess the most moderate views and in- 



512 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

tentions. Derby professed at Liverpool to have no wish 
to turn out the Government or to come into oflfice himself. 
Disraeli himself told me that he and all his party desired 
the Keform question to be settled quietly, and that if the 
Government only offered them such a Bill as they could pos- 
sibly accept, they should be ready to give them every assist- 
ance in carrying it through. Since this, Walpole has made 
a formal communication to Granville (through Henry Len- 
nox) of his and Henley's disposition to the above mentioned 
end. We are told, moreover, that a great number of the 
Conservative party will not only support a fair and moderate 
Eeform Bill, but support the Government generally, not so 
much, however, from wishing well to the Government as 
from their antipathy to Disraeli and their reluctance to see 
Mm in power again. That they will join in carrying through 
a safe and moderate Eeform Bill is no doubt true, but it is 
not probable that the division among them and the hostility 
to Disraeli will last long, or continue a moment after the 
appearance of any prospect of the return of the Conserva- 
tive party to power. 

Disraeli raised himself immensely last year, more, per- 
haps, with his opponents and the House of Commons gener- 
ally than with his own party, but it is universally acknowl- 
edged that he led the House with a tact, judgment, and 
ability of which he was not before thought capable. While 
he has thus risen, no rival has sprung up to dispute his pre- 
eminence. Walpole and Henley are null, and it is evident 
that the party cannot do without Disraeli, and whenever Par- 
liament meets he will find means of reconciling them to a 
necessity of which none of them can be unconscious, and I 
have no doubt that whenever any good opportunities for 
showing fight may occur the whole party will be found united 
under Disraeli's orders. 

With regard to the Eeform Bill, it is being proposed by a 
large committee of the Cabinet, but George Lewis has the 
chief management of it. The state of public opinion admits, 
indeed compels, the utmost moderation, but hitherto the 
anticipated difficulty has been the sort of pledge which John 
Eussell foolishly gave last year with reference to the fran- 
chise, to which it has been supposed he must consider himself 
bound. But there is reason to believe that he is not taking 
any active part in the concoction of this Bill, probably on 
account of his being so absorbed in foreign affairs, and under 



1859.] A CONGRESS PROPOSED. 513 

these circumstances we may not unreasonably expect that 
a fair Bill will be produced, and the question eventually 
settled. 

The question of still greater and more pressing interest is 
that of the Congress. The nomination of Hudson met with 
such opposition in the Cabinet that it was not pressed, and 
Lord Wodehouse was named instead. He is a clever man, 
well informed, speaks French fluently, and has plenty of cour- 
age and aplomb ; his opinions are liberal, but not extravagant. 
Clarendon, who had him down at The Grove, was pleased 
and satisfied with him. Granville is much contrarie that 
Clarendon himself has not been asked to go, thinking Justly 
that he would have much more weight than any other man, 
and would be far more likely to conduct our affairs in the 
Congress with credit and success ; but Clarendon now tells 
me he certainly would not have gone if it had been proposed 
to him. My own conviction teas that he Avould have accepted 
a proposal, and though for many reasons he would not have 
liked such a mission, I think he is somewhat mortified that 
it was not offered to him. 

The recent appearance of the pamphlet of '' Le Pape et le 
Congres," ^ which has produced such a sensation and so much 
astonishment, has no doubt been a great thing for us, and 
rendered our diplomatic course much more easy and promis- 
ing. Clarendon writes to me : '* This last pamplilet of the 
Emperor's is important and I am sure authentic, as it is 
simply a development of what I have heard twenty times 
from his own lips. It ought of course to have been reserved 
for the Congress, but as far as we are concerned it is well 
timed." It was a bold but a clever stroke of policy to give 
notice to the whole world of the sentiments and intentions 
with which the Emperor enters the Congress, and it renders 
a good understanding and joint action between France and 
England feasible and perhaps easy, unless Palmerston spoils 
everything by some obstinate and extravagant pretensions 

1 [The object of the Congress proposed by the Emperor Napoleon was to ex- 
tricate ]nmself from the embarrassments in which he was placed by the terms 
of the Peace of Villaf ranca with reference to the affairs of Italy. The proposal 
to establish a Confederation of the Italian States was found to be impracticable, 
and the unification of Italy was a more difficult problem than the conquest and 
cession to Piedmont of the Milanese territory. M. deCavour was the only 
statesman who contemplated the entire realisation of this vast scheme, which 
was at last accomplished by revolutionary means, without the concurrence of 
France. His views were shared and supported by Lord Palmerston, Lord John 
Russell, and Mr. Gladstone.] 



514 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

which he may insist on his plenipotentiaries bringing for- 
ward. But if he should be so ill advised, I believe that he 
would meet with an insuperable resistance in his own Cabinet 
and at Court, and that Cowley certainly, perhaps Wodehouse 
also, would decline being made the instruments of such a 
vicious and mischievous policy. 

January 2d, 1860. — The death of Macaulay is the ex- 
tinction of a great light, and although every expectation 
of the completion of his great work had long ago vanished, 
the sudden close of his career, and the certainty that we 
shall have no more of his History, or at most only the 
remaining portion of King William's reign (which it is 
understood he had nearly prepared for publication), is a 
serious disappointment to the world. His health was so 
broken that his death can hardly create any surprise, but 
there had been no reason lately to apprehend that the end 
was so near. I have mentioned the circumstance of my 
first meeting him, after which we became rather intimate in 
a general way, and he nsed frequently to invite me to those 
breakfasts in the Albany at which he used to collect small 
miscellaneous parties, generally including some remarkable 
people, and at which he loved to pour forth all those stores 
of his mind and accumulations of his memory to which his 
humbler guests, like myself, used to listen with delighted 
admiration, and enjoy as the choicest of intellectual feasts. 
I don't think he was ever so entirely agreeable as at his own 
breakfast table, though I shall remember as long as I live 
the pleasant days I have spent in his society at Bowood, 
Holland House, and elsewhere. IsTothing was more remark- 
able in Macaulay than the natural way in which he talked, 
never for the sake of display or to manifest his superior 
powers and knowledge. On the contrary, he was free from 
any assumption of superiority over others, and seemed to be 
impressed with the notion that those he conversed with 
knew as much as himself, and he was always quite as ready 
to listen as to talk. " Don't you remember ?" he was in the 
habit of saying, when he quoted some book or alluded to 
some fact to listeners who could not remember, because in 
nineteen cases out of twenty they had never known or 
heard of whatever it was he alluded to. I do not believe 
anybody ever left his society with any feeling of mortifica- 
tion, except that which an .involuntary comparison between 
his knowledge and their own ignorance could not fail to 



1860.] DEATH OF MACAULAY. 515 

engender. For some years past I had seen little or nothing 
of Macaulay. His own health compelled him to abstain in 
great measure from going into the world. He bought a 
house at Campden Hill, from which he rarely stirred, and to 
which he never invited me, nor did I ever call upon him 
there. I have often regretted the total cessation of our 
intercourse, but what else could be expected from the 
difference of our habits, pursuits, and characters ? I have 
only recently read over again the whole of his ''History of 
England " with undiminished pleasure and admiration, though 
with a confirmed opinion that his style is not the very best, 
and that he is not the writer whom I should be most 
desirous to imitate : but what appears to me most admirable 
and most worthy of imitation in Slacaulay is the sound moral 
constitution of his mind, and his fearless independence of 
thought, never sacrificing truth to any prejudice, interest, 
or preconceived opinion whatever. Above all he was no 
hero worshipper, who felt it incumbent on him to minister 
to vulgar prejudices or predilections, to exalt the merits 
and palliate the defects of great reputations, and to consider 
the commission of great crimes, or the detection of mean 
and base motives, as atoned for and neutralised by the 
possession of shining abilities and the performance of great 
actions. Macaulay excited much indignation in some 
quarters by the severity with which he criticised the con- 
duct and character of the Duke of Marlborough, and the 
Quakers bitterly resented his attacks upon Penn. He was 
seldom disposed to admit that he had been mistaken or 
misinformed, and I thought he was to blame in clinging so 
tenaciously to his severe estimate of Penn's conduct after 
the vindication of it which was brought forward, and the 
joroduction of evidence in Penn's favor, which might have 
satisfied him that he had been in error, and which probably 
would have done so in any case in which his judgment had 
been really unbiassed. I always regretted, not for the sake 
of Penn's memory, but for the honor of Macaulay himself, 
that he would not admit the value and force of the exculpa- 
tory evidence, and ackiiowledge, as he very gracefully might, 
the probability at least of his having been in error. But the 
case of the Duke of Marlborough is very different, and 
reflects the highest honor on his literary integrity and 
independence. Undazzled by the splendor of that great 
man's career and the halo of admiration which had long 



516 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, [Chap. XIX 

surrounded his name, he demonstrated to the whole world 
of what base clay the idol was made and how he bad abused 
for unworthy ends the choice gifts which Nature had 
bestowed upon him. Macaulay no doubt held that in pro- 
portion to the excellence of his natural endowments was his 
moral responsibility for the use or abuse of them, and he 
would not allow Blenheim and Ramillies to be taken as a set- 
off against his hypocrisy, perfidy, and treason. Macaulay's 
History is the best ethical study for forming the mind and 
character of a young man, for it is replete with maxims 
of the highest practical value. It holds up in every page 
to hatred and scorn all the vices which can stain, and to 
admiration and emulation all the virtues which can adorn, a 
public career. It is impossible for any one to study that 
great work without sentiments of profound admiration for 
the lessons it inculcates, and they who become thoroughly 
imbued with its spirit, no matter whether they coincide or 
not with his opinions, will be strengthened in a profound 
veneration for truth and justice, for public and private 
integrity and honor, and in a genuine patriotism and desire 
for the freedom, prosperity, and glory of their country. 

January '7th. — In a letter from Clarendon yesterday from 
The Grove he says : ''Cowley came over here last night. I 
had a long talk with him ; he is low and unhappy, and does 
not see his way out of the labyrinth ; he is not for the Con- 
gress meeting noiv, but still does not think we should aban- 
don the Emperor altogether in his Italian policy. The fact 
is, we are in a great difficulty. If we had from the first 
taken the wise part of saying that as we had had nothing to 
do with the war or the peace, and should therefore not in- 
terfere with the arrangements the Emperor thought proper 
to make, we should now be on velvet ; but from the moment 
we knew of the Villafranca arrangement we have been 
thwarting the Emperor, and goading him on further than he 
wished to go, and encouraging the Italians to persist in their 
own ideas, till at last when he does what we want, and is 
prepared to throw over the Pope and asks to be backed by 
us, it is rather awkward to break away and declare we only 
wanted the credit of recommending a fine liberal policy, but 
that we don't mean to be at any trouble or expense about 
it." All this is undoubtedly true, but it is the old inveterate 
habit of Palmerston's policy, united with John Eussell's 
crotchets, which has brought it to this pass. Palmerston has 



I860.] TUE AFFAIRS OF ITALY. 517 

always been Conservative at home and Revolutionary abroad, 
and the gratification of a silly spite against Austria has al- 
ways been paramount to any other consideration and object. 
While the enemies of the late Government accused them, 
very unjustly as the documentary evidence has shown, of 
having unduly favored Austria during the recent conflict, 
and therefore having been neutral only in name, it is true 
that the present Government, i. e., Palmerston and John Eus- 
sell, have gone out of their way to interfere in an underhand 
manner, and have been constantly patting on the back the 
insurgent Italians, and, as Clarendon says, urging the Em- 
peror to go further than he wishes, or than he can do con- 
sistently with the engagement he has entered into. When 
Cowley was here some months ago, I remember his telling 
me that one day when he met Cavour, either at Compiegne 
or Paris, I forget which, when it was the question of the 
Congress before the war, Cavour said to him, " So you are 
going to have a Congress." "Yes," said Cowley, "thanks 
to you and all you have been doing in Italy." "Thanks to 
me ! " cried Cavour, " I like that ; why don't you say thanks 
to your own Minister at Turin, to Sir James Hudson, who 
has done ten times more than ever I did ?" 

Hatchford, January 12th. — Clarendon writes to me (on 
the 10th) : " Cowley dined here on Saturday and did the 
same at Pembroke Lodge on Sunday. He is on very good 
terms with John Russell, but hardly understands what he 
would be at, and for the good reason probably that Johnny 
does not know himself. There is a Ministerial crisis going 
on at this moment about Italy, the three confederates want- 
ing of course to do more than the sober-minded majority can 
agree to. I suppose it will be decided at the Cabinet to-day, 
and that some middle course will be discovered, as I shall not 
believe, till it is a fait accoinpU, that Palmerston will allow 
the Government to break up on a question which will not 
carry the country with him. The people dislike Austria and 
wish well to the Italians, but they want not to interfere in 
the affairs of either, and I doubt if they would give a man 
or a shilling to help Palmerston in blotting Austria out of 
the map of Europe and giving Sardinia a much larger slice 
of the map. That twofold object amounts to monomania 
now with Palmerston, and I believe he would sacrifice office to 
attain it, which is the highest test of his sincerity. The three 
confederates are Palmerston, John Russell, and Gladstone. 



518 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

London, January 22d. — For the last three weeks the 
sayings and doings of the Emperor Napoleon haye occupied 
all thoughts in every part of Europe, and he has wellnigh 
recovered in this country the confidence and popularity which 
had been exchanged for distrust, suspicion, and alarm. It 
would really look as if the sole or at least the main object 
of his policy was to conciliate English opinion and to ingra- 
tiate himseli with the present Government ; and he certainly 
has exhibited great courage and above all a boundless confi- 
dence in his own . power and authority in his own country. 
There was a time when he paid great court to the Catholic 
clergy in France, and it was supposed that his motive in re- 
taining the French troops in Eome (which it was known he 
very much disliked) was his apprehension lest their with- 
drawal should expose the Pope's person or Government to 
danger, which the clergy in France would not readily forgive 
him for doing. When he made peace with Austria he still 
evinced a desire to uphold the dignity and authority of the 
Pope, and therefore nobody was the least prepared for the 
pamphlet of "The Pope and the Congress." It fell like a 
thunderbolt, striking terror into the minds of all the Papal 
supporters and adherents, and filling with joy all revolted 
Italy, and with a more sober satisfaction all the Liberals and 
ultra- Protestants here. 

We had hardly recovered from our amazement at this 
great change in the foreign policy of France, when we were 
still more astonished and pleased by the publication of the 
Emperor's letter to Fould, in which he announced his inten- 
tion to change the whole commercial policy of France, and 
to make her a country of Free Trade. In thus confronting 
at once the Clerical body and the Protectionist interest in 
France, he has certainly acted with enormous boldness and 
reliance on his own interest and power, and it will be very 
interesting to see whether the success of his policy corre- 
sponds with its audacity. The Commercial Treaty has been 
in great measure the work of Cobden, who went over to Paris 
under the wing of Michel Chevalier and with letters to Cow- 
ley, who introduced him to everybody who could be of use 
to him in his endeavors to forward a Free-Trade policy. 
The scheme seems to have been arranged between the Emper- 
or and Fould without the knowledge or participation of any 
of the other Ministers. Cobden had no mission, but he re- 
ported his progress home, and as an acknowledgement of his 



I860.] OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. 519 

exertions he is to be made Joint Plenipotentiary with Cowley 
in' signing the Commercial Treaty. 

The return of Cavour to power looks as if there was a 
secret understanding between France and England that the 
King of Sardinia should be permitted to consummate the 
annexation of all the revolted provinces to his dominions ; 
for this object, which Palmerston has so much at heart, he 
would gladly consent to the transference of Savoy to France, 
which most people think will take place ; but everything is 
still and must be for some time in the greatest uncertainty 
in North Italy, the only thing apparently certain being that 
the Dukes will not recover their Duchies, and still less the 
Pope his Komagna. 

January 24:th. — To-day Parliament opens, and everything 
promises a prosperous session for the Government. So little 
spirit is there in the Opposition, that very few of them are 
expected to make their appearance, and Disraeli, under the 
pretext of a family affliction, gives no dinner ; but the prob- 
able cause of this is not the death of his sister, which hap- 
pened two months ago, but his own uncertainty as to whom 
he should invite, and. who would be disposed to own political 
allegiance by accepting his invitation. Such is the disor- 
ganized state of that party. 

Clarendon called on me yesterday, and told me various 
things more or less interesting about passing events, about 
Cobden and the Commercial Treaty. Cobden went over to 
Paris with letters from Palmerston to Cowley, begging Cow- 
ley would give him all the aid he could in carrying out his 
object of persuading the leading people there to adopt Free 
Trade principles, saying he went without any mission and as 
*' a free lance." Cowley did what he could for him, and he 
went about his object with great zeal, meanwhile putting 
himself in correspondence with Gladstone, Avho eagerly 
backed him up, but all this time nothing was said to the 
Cabinet on the subject. At length one day Walewski sent 
for Cowley, and asked him whether he was to understand 
that Cobden was an agent of the British Government, and 
authorized by it to say all he was saying in various quarters. 
Cowley denied all knowledge of Cobden's proceedings, but 
wrote a despatch to John Eussell stating what had occurred, 
and at the same time a private letter, saying he did not know 
whether he would wish such a despatch to be recorded, and 
therefore to number it and place it in the Foreign Office, or 



520 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

put it in the fire as he thought fit. John Eussell accepted 
the despatch, and at the same time told him he might en- 
dorse whatever Cobden did in the matter of commercial en- 
gagements. 

Clarendon said that when he was at Paris four years ago 
for the Congress, the Emperor one day said to him, " I know 
you are a great Free Trader, and I suppose you mean to take 
this opportunity of advancing Free Trade principles here 
as far as you can." Clarendon said certainly such was his 
intention, when the Emperor said he was happy to be able 
to take the initiative with him on this subject, and that he 
would tell him that it had just been settled in the Council of 
State that a great change in their commercial and prohibitive 
system should be proposed to the Chambers, which it was his 
intention to carry out as as soon as possible. But not long 
after the Emperor renewed the subject, and told him he 
found the opposition so strong to his contemplated measures 
and the difficulties so great, that he had been obliged to 
abandon them for the present, and as there is no reason 
to doubt that the elements of opposition will be found as 
strong now as they were then, it is by no means certain that 
His Majesty will be able now to do all he wishes and has 
announced. It has already been stated in the French papers 
that something is to be done to meet the objection or allay 
the apprehensions of the French Protectionists, and Claren- 
don thinks it very doubtful whether the Commercial Treaty, 
which will confer advantages on France immediately without 
any recij)rocal ones to ns for eighteen months to come, will 
be received with much favor here, especially as the loss to 
our revenue will require the imposition of fresh taxes to a 
considerable amount. 

We discussed the Italian question, and he said the Em- 
peror is in a constant state of doubt and perplexity, one 
while inclining to the Congress, and another to leaving affairs 
to be settled without one. Granville told me last night 
there appears a chance of the Pope's consenting to enter 
the Congress with the expectation of being supported there 
by a majority of the Powers, and deriving considerable 
benefit from such support. The Emperor Napoleon, too, 
now shows some signs of drawing closer to Austria again, 
while Austria is quite determined never to consent to any of 
the schemes of revolution and annexation which France and 
England are intent upon carrying out. Apponyi told Claren- 



I860.] MODERATION OF LORD DERBY. 521 

don, with tears in his eyes, that they were ruined, and quite 
unable to take any active part, but that in the way of passive 
resistance they might still do a great deal, and that they 
should not only refuse with the greatest perseverance to set 
their hands to any paper acknowledging the new state of 
things, but that they should solemnly protest against it on 
every occasion and in every way in their power. Austria 
therefore never will consent to the annexation of Central 
Italy to Piedmont, and if it takes place in spite of her re- 
monstrances and in direct violation of the conditions of Vil- 
lafranca and Zurich, she will not only refuse her recognition, 
but proclaim her intention of biding her time, with a view 
to avail herself of future possible contingencies to redress the 
wrongs of which she may justly complain. I asked Claren- 
don if he did not think it possible a inezzo termine might be 
effected by which France and Austria might again be put 
d' accord, France saying, " I would carry out the stipulations 
of Zurich if I could, but you see it is impossible. Still I 
will not consent to arrangements obnoxious to you and in 
direct violation of them, such as the annexations to Pied- 
mont ; let us recur to the formation of a Central Italian in- 
dependent State." Clarendon said this had been his own 
idea, and he still thought it was not impossible that such a 
compromise should be effected. It is hardly possible to 
doubt that if Cavour succeeds in annexing to Piedmont all 
the Central Italian States, a very short time will elapse be- 
fore war will break oiit again between Sardinia and Austria, 
and that Austria will have to relinquish her Venetian pos- 
sessions or fight for their retention. 

January 21!th. — The session opened with great appear- 
ance of quiet and prosperity for the Ministers, which noth- 
ing that passed the first night in either House threatened to 
disturb. Derby made a very good and moderate speech. 
When he left office the Queen entreated him not to use the 
power he seemed to have from the nearly balanced state of 
parties to upset this Government, urging the great objections 
there were to eternal changes, and she repeated the same 
thing to him when he was at Windsor on a visit not long 
ago. Derby expressed his entire concurrence with her, and 
he promised to act in conformity with her wishes, and he has 
entirely done so. Nothing could be more temperate and 
harmless than the few remarks he made on Tuesday night, 
but leaving himself quite unfettered on every point. 



522 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

In the meaiatime there is apparently a strong feeling 
of doubt and quasi-hostility getting up against the Com- 
mercial Treaty, and it looks as if the English and French 
Governments would both have great difficulties in the mat- 
ter. Public opinion here remains suspended till the Treaty 
is produced, and till we are informed what the immediate 
sacrifices may be that we shall have to make for it, and 
what are the prospective advantages we obtain in return. 
The French Protectionists are more impatient and have 
begun to pour out their complaints and indignation without 
waiting to see the obnoxious Convention. Thiers is said to 
be furious. So far from any Commercial Treaty like this 
cementing the alliance, and rendering war between the two 
countries more difficult, it is much more likely to inflame 
the popular antipathy in France, to make the alliance itself 
odious, and render the chances of war between the two 
countries more probable. In maturing his scheme Louis 
Napoleon has given it all the appearance of a conspiracy, 
which is in accordance with his character and his tastes. 
The whole thing was carried on with the most profound 
secrecy, and the secret was confined to a very few people, 
viz. the Emperor himself, Fould, Eouher (Minister of Com- 
merce), Michel Chevalier, and Cobden. All the documents 
were copied by Madame Rouher, and Eouher was so afraid 
that some guesses might be made if he was known to be 
consulting books and returns that were preserved in the 
Library of the Council of State, that he never would look 
at any of them, and made Chevalier borrow all that he had 
occasion to refer to. Now the Emperor springs this Treaty 
upon his reluctant Chambers and the indignant Protectionist 
interest. His manner of doing the thing, which he thinks 
is the only way by which it can be done at all, naturally adds 
to the resentment the measure excites. They feel themselves 
in a manner taken in. The objections here are of a different 
kind and on other grounds, but Gladstone kept his design 
nearly as close as the Emperor did, never having imparted it 
to the Cabinet till the last moment before Parliament met. 
I do not know how the Cabinet looked at it, only that they 
were not unanimous. 

While, however, it seems at least doubtful how the 
Government will fare when they produce this Treaty, it 
appears certain that they will get into a scrape with their 
Reform Bill. I had imagined from all I heard that the 



I860.] THE REFORM BILL OF 1860. 523 

Government were certain to bring forward a measure so 
moderate as to insure the support or at least prevent the 
opposition of the Conservatives, or certainly of a large pro- 
portion of them. Everything rendered this probable. The 
assurances conveyed to the Government by Walpole, tlie pro- 
fessions of Disraeli, the apathy of the country, and the total 
failure of Bright's attempts to get up the steam, all encour- 
aged them to take this course, and the Duke of Bedford told 
me Lord John was not so tied and bound by his declarations 
last year that he would not concur in any moderate measure 
that the Cabinet might frame. A few days ago, however, 
I asked Clarendon what the Bill would be, and he alarmed 
me by his reply that ''it would be as bad as possible," John 
Russell having insisted upon the franchise being in accord- 
ance with his pledges, and upon his consistency being entire- 
ly preserved. This meant of course a Ql. franchise, which 
everybody denounces as full of mischief and danger. 

just now Henry Lennox came to me and told me that all 
the dissensions and jealousies of the Conservative party and 
the Carlton Club had been suddenly appeased, and that from 
being split into little sections and coteries, squabbling among 
themselves and forming plots to oust Disraeli, and elevate 
one man or another in his place, they were suddenly re- 
united as one man in opposition to the Bill that they hear is 
to be offered to them, and that Disraeli will be higher than 
ever in their confidence and support. The Government 
estimate their majority at four, leaving out of calculation 
the Irish Catholics, who will probably all vote against them 
on every question, and the Conservatives boast of having 320 
men who will cling together with immoveable constancy in 
opposition to the 61. clause. That they will be able to carry 
it under these circumstances seems impossible. Lord John 
is himself to bring on the Reform Bill. The best thing that 
could haj)pen (unless they are warned in time and alter 
their measure) would be that he should be beaten on the 
61. franchise, go out upon it and the rest stay in ; but 
whether they would think themselves bound to stand or fall 
with him and break up the Government for his sake, I have 
at present no idea. The Queen would no doubt do all in her 
power to induce Palmerston to let him go, replace him, 
and carry on the Government without him. His loss would 
be a gain in every possible way, and the Government would 
be strengthened instead of being Aveakened by his absence. 



524 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

even though he should throw himself into the arms of 
Bright and join liim in a Eadical opposition to his former 
colleagues. 

Bath, February 15th. — When I left London a fortnight 
ago the world was anxiously expecting Gladstone's speech 
in which he was to put the Commercial Treaty and the 
Budget before the world. His own confidence and that of 
most of his colleagues in his success was unbounded, but 
many inveighed bitterly against the Treaty, and looked for- 
ward with great alarm and aversion to the Budget. Claren- 
den shook his head, Overstone pronounced against the 
Treaty, the " Times " thundered against it, and there is 
little doubt that it was unpopular, and becoming more so 
every day. Then came Gladstone's unlucky illness, which 
compelled him to put oS his expose, and made it doubtful 
whether he would not be physically disabled from doing 
justice to the subject. His doctor says he ought to have 
taken two months' rest instead of two days'. However, at 
the end of his two days' delay he came forth, and consensu 
omnium achieved one of the greatest triumphs that the 
House of Commons ever witnessed. Everybody I have 
heard from admits that it was a magnificent display, not to 
be surpassed in ability of execution, and that he carried the 
House of Commons completely with him. I can well believe 
it, for when I read the report of it the next day (a report I 
take to have given the speech verbatim) it carried me along 
with it likewise. For the moment ojoposition and criticism 
were silenced, and nothing was heard but the sound of praise 
and admiration. In a day or two, however, men began to 
disengage their minds from the bewitching influence of this 
great oratorical power, to examine calmly the different parts 
of the wonderful piece of machinery which Gladstone had 
constructed, and to detect and expose the weak points and 
objectionable provisions which it contained. I say it, for, 
as the Speaker writes to me, it must be taken as a whole or 
rejected as a whole, and he adds the first will be its fate. 

Clarendon, who has all along disapproved of the Treaty, 
wrote to me that Gladstone's success was complete, and 
public opinion in his favor. He says, "1 expect that the 
London feeling will be reflected from the country, so that 
there will be no danger of rejection, though I think that the 
more the whole thing is considered, the less popular it will 
become. The no-provision for the enormous deficit that will 



I860.] MR. GLADSTONE'S BUDGET. 525 

exist next year will strike people, as well as the fact that the 
Budget is made up of expedients for the present year. The 
non-payment of the Exchequer bonds is to all intents and 
purposes a loan ; the war tax on tea and sugar, the windfall 
of the Spanish payment, the making the maltsters and hop- 
growers pay in advance, &c., are all stopgaps. If anybody 
proposes it, I shall not be surprised if an additional Id. In- 
come Tax in place of the war duties was accepted by Glad- 
stone. He has a fervent imagination, which furnishes facts 
and arguments in support of them ; he is an audacious in- 
novator, because he has an insatiable desire for popularity, 
and in his notions of government he is a far more sincere Re- 
publican than Bright, for his ungratified personal vanity 
makes him wish to subvert the institutions and the classes 
that stand in tlie way of his ambition. The two are con- 
verging from different points to the same end, and if Glad- 
stone remains in office long enough and is not more opposed 
by his colleagues than he has been hitherto, we shall see him 
propose a graduated Income Tax." These are only objec- 
tions to the Budget, and speculations (curious ones) as to 
the character and futurity of Gladstone. 

In another letter he says : ' ' Gladstone made a fair de- 
fence of the Treaty, though there are things in it which de- 
serve the severest criticism and will get it, such as tying our- 
selves down about the exportation of coal (which is a muni- 
tion of war), letting in French silks free while ours are to 
pay thirty per cent., and establishing a differential duty of 
nearly fifty per cent, in favor of light French wines against 
the stronger wines of Spain and Portugal, for that will be 
the operation of the Treaty." Since all this was written 
there has been a meeting of the Conservative party, and I 
hear this morning that Derby has decided to take the field 
with all his forces with a Resolution against the condition 
about the exportation of coal, and confining himself to that, 
which will very likely be carried. On the other hand, the 
publicans and licensed victuallers appear to be in arms 
against that part of the Budget which more immediately in- 
terests them, and are waging a fierce war in the Press by 
their paper, the " Morning Advertiser," so that in spite of 
his great triumph and all the admiration his eloquence and 
skill elicited, it is not all sunshine and plain sailing with his 
measures. Delane writes to me that Gladstone will find it 
hard work to get his Budget through, that Peel when he 



526 KEIGN or QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

brought forward Ms Budget had a majority of niuety, all of 
which he required to do it, whereas Palmerston cannot com- 
mand a majority of nine. 

London, February 22d. — I returned to town on Monday. 
The same night a battle took place in the House of Com- 
mons, in which Gladstone signally defeated Disraeli, and 
Government got so good a majority that it looks like the 
harbinger of complete success for their Treaty and their 
Budget. Everybody agrees that nothing could be more 
brilliant and complete than Gladstone's triumph, which did 
not seem to be matter of much grief to many of the Con- 
servative party, for I hear that however they may still act 
together on a great field-day, the hatred and distrust of 
Disraeli is greater than ever in the Conservative ranks, and 
Derby himself, when he heard how his colleague had been 
demolished, did not seem to care much about it. They say 
that he betrays in the House of Commons a sort of con- 
sciousness of his inferiority to Gladstone, and of fear of en- 
countering him in debate. 

February 26th. — On Friday night Gladstone had another 
great triumph. He made a splendid speech, and obtained 
a majority of 116, which puts an end to the contest. He 
is now the great man of the day, but these recent proceed- 
ings have strikingly displayed the disorganized condition of 
the Conservative party and their undisguised dislike of their 
leader. A great many of them voted with Government on 
Friday night, and more expressed satisfaction at the result 
being a defeat of Disraeli. The Treaty and Budget, though 
many parts of both are obnoxious to criticism more or less 
well founded, seem on the whole not unpopular, and since 
their first introduction to have undoubtedly gained in pub- 
lic favor. This fact and the state of the Opposition prove 
the impossibility of any change of Government. Gladstone, 
too, as he is strong, seems disposed to be merciful, and has 
expressed his intention of taking fairly into consideration 
the various objections that may be brought forward, and to 
consent to reasonable alterations when good cases are made 
out for them. There seems no doubt that his great meas- 
ures were not approved by the majority of the Cabinet, but 
the malcontents do not seem to have been disposed to fight 
much of a battle against the minority, which included both 
Palmerston and Lord John. 

It is curious how this great question has thrown into the 



I860.] MR. GLADSTONE'S SUCCESS. 527 

background all the questions about Italy and foreign policy, 
in regard to which public interest seems to be for the moment 
suspended, while Italian affairs are at a dead lock. It would 
be very inconsistent with the Emperor's character if he had 
given up his design of appropriating Savoy, but he has 
certainly postponed it, and will probably employ his versatile 
imagination in weaving some fresh web by means of which 
he may get it into his power. I have been reading the 
Italian Blue Book, which is a creditable compilation. John 
Russell's positions are not unsound, but he is too controver- 
sial in his tone, and though he treats Austria with a decent 
consideration, and in no unfriendly spirit, he might as well 
have avoided arguing with Count Rechberg upon points 
and principles on which it was impossible they should ever 
agree. Throughout this compilation the embarrassment and 
perplexity of the Emperor Napoleon are conspicuous, and the 
difficulties into which he got himself by his vacillations and 
incompatible objects and obligations. His desire to adhere 
to the engagements he contracted at Villafranca is obvious 
throughout, and the advice he gave the Pope seems to have 
been the best possible, and given in ail sincerity.^ 

February mii. — Gladstone is said to have become subject 
to much excitement, and more bitter in controversy in the 
House of Commons than was his wont. The severe working 
of his brain and the wonderful success he has obtained may 
account for this, and having had his own way and triumphed 
over all opposition in the Cabinet, it is not strange that he 
should brook none anywhere else. He has not failed to 
show a little of the cloven foot, and to alarm people as to his 
future designs. Clarendon, who watches him, and has means 
of knowing his disposition, thinks that he is moving toward 
a Democratic union with Bright, the effect of which will be 
increased Income Tax and lowering the estimates by giving 
up the defences of the country, to which Sidney Herbert will 
never consent, and already these old friends and colleagues 
appear to be fast getting into a state of antagonism. Aber- 
deen told Clarendon that they would never go on together, 
and he thought Sidney Herbert would retire from the Cabinet 

> [The Emperor told Mettemich the other day that he had made one great 
mistake, whioh he had never ceased to regret, that immediately after Villa- 
franca he ought to have marched 100,000 men into Tuscany on the plea of em- 
barking them at Leghorn, and continued to occupy the country till the restora- 
tion of the Grand Duke was accomplished, but that he had never contemplated 
the invincible resistance of the whole population. — C. C. G.J 



538 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

before the end of the session. This of course implies that 
Gladstone's policy is to be in the ascendant, and that he is 
to override the Cabinet. 

There has been a dispute about the introduction of the 
Eeform Bill. Lord John's colleagues wished him to defer 
bringing it on, till more progress had been made in the 
fiscal and commercial measures, and represented the incon- 
venience of having the two discussions going on at the same 
time, but nothing would induce him to postpone it, and for 
the absurd reason that he wanted to bring in this Bill on 
the same day on which he had introduced the great Reform 
Bill in 1831, and to this fanciful object he insisted on 
sacrificing all others. . 

Hatchford, March '^tli. — Lord John Russell brought in 
his Reform Bill last week without exciting the smallest 
interest, or even curiosity, amid profound indifference in 
the House and in the country. His measure was very mod- 
erate, and his speech temperate. It produces no enthusiasm, 
or satisfaction, or alarm. It will probably pass without any 
violent debates, and perhaps with very slight alterations. 
If the opponents should succeed in making some, Lord John 
is not prepared to adhere obstinately to his measure, but will 
come to terms. It was settled that no discussion should 
take place at the time, and nobody was inclined for any. It 
hardly delayed the progress of Gladstone's measures, so we 
heard no more comijlaints of Lord John's pertinacity in 
bringing it on upon March 1st. 

The Treaty, the Budget, and the Reform Bill had thrown 
foreign affairs into the background, but the interest in 
them was suddenly aroused, and speedily absorbed every 
other, by the Emperor's speech and M. Thouvenel's despatch- 
es all so mortifying and provoking to us. Up to this moment 
Palmerston had been highly elated, and he and Lord John 
had been exulting in the fancied glory of being the Libera- 
tors of Italy, and of having procured the complete success 
of their own objects. As Clarendon wrote to me, " The 
Emperor must greatly enjoy the helplessness of Europe, and 
in feeling that he may do just what he likes with perfect 
impunity. Russia is cripjDled, Austria rotten, Germany dis- 
united, and England, though growling, occupied in gnawing 
the Treaty bone he has tossed to her. All must submit to 
the laws made known to them through the ' Moniteur.' " 
If it were not so melancholy to see the miserable figure which 



I860.] THE DENOUEMENT OF THE PLOT. 529 

England cuts in all this, it would be amasing to see it happen 
regnante Palmerston, and after all his incurable meddling 
and blustering to see him obliged to eat so much dirt. He 
may (thongh probably he does not) think he has lived too 
long to be reserved at the last period of his political career 
for snch mortification. The Emperor said to somebody, 
'^L'Europeboudera, nais ne fera rien,"and he is quite right. 
We seem to have arrived at the last act of the Italian drama, 
but it is still very uncertain how the dmouement will be 
worked out and what the Emperor's final will and pleasure 
will be. The Romagna seems to present the greatest diffi- 
culty; all the rest will find a tolerably easy solution. France 
will take what she wants of Savoy and give the rest to Switz- 
erland, who upon those conditions is desirous of annexation, 
and Piedmont does not seem to care much about it. In this 
way the question of Savoy will be settled, if not by general 
consent, at least with general acquiescence and without any 
opposition. 

March 9th. — After all it is not improbable that Palmer- 
ston will have the gratification of seeing Tuscany annexed to 
Sardinia. Cavour has taken the line which Clarendon and 
I agreed that he would very likely do, and sets France and 
Austria at defiance. We have seen France and Sardinia 
joined in making war upon Austria, and now we have France 
and Austria joined in diplomacy against Sardinia. Nothing 
can be more curious than to see the unravelling of this web. 
Next week the Italian States will severally vote their an- 
nexation to Sardinia, or their separate existence. If, as is 
almost certain, the former is their decision, the King will 
accept their resolution, and Pjedmontese troops will march 
into Tuscany. Then we shall see what the Emperor Napo- 
leon will do, and what he will permit Austria to do. 

Savernake, March ISth. — The affair of Savoy has been 
summarily settled by the will of the Emperor and the con- 
nivance of Cavour. The whole affair now appears to have 
been a concerted villainy between these worthies, which as 
the plot has been developed excites here the most intense 
disgust and indignation. The feeling is the stronger because 
we have no choice but that of sulky and grumbling acqui- 
escence. The one redeeming point in the French act of 
violence was the apparent respect paid to Treaties and to the 
claims of Switzerland, Thouvenel having only the other day 
said that Faucigny and Chablais should be ceded at once 

23 



530 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

to Switzerland ; and now we hear that nothing of the kind 
is to be done, and that France seizes everything.' It is in 
vain that the Houses of Parliament are advised to cease bark- 
ing, as they certainly do not mean to bite, and that the 
*' Times" recommends silence and moderation ; such enor- 
mities as are unblushingly exhibited to the world excite an 
indignation which breaks through every restraint, and people 
will not hold their peace, happen what may. The Opposition 
have turned the current of their wrath upon our Govern- 
ment, and have proved clearly enough that they had ample 
and timely notice of the Emperor's intentions, and that 
nevertheless they continued to urge with all their might that 
policy which was certain to lead to the annexation of Savoy. 
That the Emperor and Cavour have been plotting together 
seems now quite certain, but we are still ignorant, and may 
perhaps ever remain so, of. the details of their delusive 
operations. 

The three great subjects which have occupied public 
attention all this year have been the Italian and its branches, 
Gladstone's Treaty and Budget, and the Reform Bill. Up 
to the present time the two first have absorbed all interest, 
and the new Eeform Bill has been received with almost com- 
plete apathy, nobody appearing to know or care what its 
effects would be, and most people misled by an apparent 
show of moderation and harmlessness in its details. But in 
the course of the last week the "Times" set to work, in a 
series of very able articles, to show the mischievous and dan- 
gerous effects that the proposed franchise will produce, and 
these warnings, supported by ample statistical details, have 
begun to arouse people from their indifference and to create 
some apprehensions. I am informed that John Russell 
framed his Bill in utter ignorance of these important details, 
and, with the mixture of levity and obstinacy which has 
always distinguished him, has plunged the country into this 
dilemma for the sake of his own selfish and ambitious objects. 
But what is incomprehensible is that in such a numerous 

> [It is within my own knowledge than M. Thouvenel expressed at that time 
the desire of the Emperor to do anything he could to help Lord Palmerston, and 
accordingly he proposed, unofficially, to surrender and annex a considerable 
portion of the Faucigny district, down to the Fort do I'Ecluse, in the Jura, to 
the Canton of Geneva, provided the British Government would assent to the 
acquisition by France of the rest of Savov. Lord Palnierston rejected the pro- 
posal, saying to the person who conveyed it to him, '' We shall shame them out 
of it."— H. R.] 



I860.] LORD DERBY DECLINES TO INTERFERE. 531 

Cabinet as the present, and containing many men who cer- 
tainly once had strong Conservative opinions, he should not 
have met Avith a more strenuous opposition, and have been 
forced to alter his most obnoxious propositions, and I think 
tliose who were better informed than Lord John, and saw 
whither his plan of Reform was leading them, are more to 
blame than himself. It is impossible to meet with any man 
who approves of this Bill, and who does not abhor the idea 
of any Reform whatever. All say that if the members voted 
by ballot there would be almost unanimity against it, and 
yet such is the disorganized state of the Conservative party, 
and such the want of moral courage and independence gen- 
erally, that this Bill will most likely pass unaltered. 

The prevailing hope is that the House of Lords will 
amend it, but Derby told somebody (I think it was Claren- 
don) that if those who dreaded the mischief of the measure 
in the House of Commons had not the courage and honesty 
to oppose it there and correct it, the House of Lords should 
not, so far as his influence went, incur the odium of doing 
the work which the House of Commons ought itself to do. 
Lyndhurst told me the other day that Derhy had told Lady 
Lyndhurst he was so disgusted with the state of affairs at 
home and abroad, that he had serious thoughts of withdraw- 
ing from public life, and Clarendon told me that an eminent 
Conservative, who had begged not to be quoted, had said 
that he knew Derby was violently discontented with Disraeli, 
and prepared to dissolve their political connection. 

Wells, March 21st. — I came here from Savernake on 
Monday. On Friday last in the House of Lords the Com- 
mercial Treaty and Budget, but the latter especially, were 
powerfully assailed by Grey, Overstone, and Derby, and very 
considerably damaged in argument, but probably in nothing 
else. The Government are as weak in the Lords as the Op- 
position are in the Commons, where, however, Disraeli seems 
to have made a very good speech against the Reform Bill on 
Monday night. 

Torquay, March 28fh. — The past week has been remark- 
able for the speech in which John Russell denounced in strong 
language the conduct of France, declared that we could no 
longer trust her, and that we must renew our intimacies 
with the other Powers. Whether all this was sincere and 
meant all it seems to do is yet to be discovered. The week 
was near being still more remarkable, for the Reform Bill was 



532 REIGN OP QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

within an ace of falling to the ground by the House being 
counted out in the midst of a debate. This would have 
been very ridiculous, but would have been hailed with delight 
by the House of Commons, and without dissatisfaction by 
the country. Clarendon writes to me in a strain of bitter 
hostility to the Bill and disgust at everything, complains of 
the general apathy and the impossibility of rousing any spirit 
of opposition to what all abhor. Derby told him that if 
twenty-five or even twenty Liberals would take the lead in 
opposing this Bill, the whole Conservative party would sup- 
port them. Clarendon wrote to me when I was at Bath that 
the time would probably come when Gladstone would propose 
a graduated Income Tax, and lo ! it has nearly come, for 
Gladstone gave notice the other night to people to be pre- 
pared for it. The Triumvirate of Palmerston, John Eussell, 
and Gladstone, who have it all their own way, dragging after 
them the Cabinet, the House of Commons, and the country, 
will probably be the ruin of this country. They are playing 
into the Emperor Napoleon's hands, who has only to be 
patient and bide his time, and he will be able to treat all 
Europe, England included, in any way he pleases. Nothing 
but some speedy change of Government and of system can 
avert the impending ruin. 

London, Ajjril 2d. — One day last week (as mentioned 
above), on one of the numerous discussions of the Savoy 
question in the House of Commons, John Eussell electrified 
the House and rather astonished the country by delivering a 
very spirited speech, denouncing in strong terms the conduct 
of the Emperor Napoleon, and declaring the necessity of 
cultivating relations with the other Great Powers for the 
purpose of putting an effectual check upon the projects of 
French aggrandizement and annexation. I mast own that 
my first impression was that this speech was made merely to 
deceive the House and the country, and was only a part of 
the collusive system between our Government and the French, 
by virtue of which Louis Napoleon has been enabled to work 
out all his objects and designs ; but though it is impossible 
to doubt that John Russell and Palmerston have all along 
been aware of the Emperor's intentions with regard to Savoy, 
and that they have been more intent upon procuring advan- 
tages for Sardinia and provoking Austria than upon thwart- 
ing the projects of France, I am inclined to see Lord John's 
speech in another light from what I hear since I came to 



I860.] EFFECTS OF LORD JOHN'S SPEECH. 533 

town. He made it without any previous consultation with 
his colleagues, it having been one of those impromptus 
which he is so apt to indulge in, and Palmerston, seeing the 
way in which it was received in the House and by the Press, 
approved of its tone and expressed a full concurrence with 
it. Flahault, who went to Paris a few days ago, called on 
Palmerston before he went and asked if he wished him to 
say or do anything there. Palmerston said he might inform 
the Government that Lord John's speech expressed the 
unanimous opinion of the Cabinet here. In my opinion his 
speech was a great imprudence, and will probably in-volve 
the necessity of our eating a great deal of humble pie. We 
have long ago declared that though we disapprove very much 
of the annexation of Savoy, we should take no steps to pre- 
vent it ; but Lord John made a great distinction between 
the question of Savoy and Nice and that of Faucigny and 
Chablais, and though he did not commit himself to any posi- 
tive course, he gave it to be inferred that something more 
would be required from us, in the way of opposition to the 
seizure of the latter, than there was any necessity for our 
making to tiiat of the former. But the Emperor makes 
no such distinctions, and if, as is most probable, he does not 
admit our right to draw them, wc shall be in an unpleasant 
fix, and have to back out of the position we have assumed 
in a way neither dignified nor creditable. 

The accounts from Paris are that this speech has made 
the French very insolent, and the Emperor more popular 
than he has been for a long time, as even his enemies say 
that they Avill rally round him to chastise English imperti- 
nence. Then as to forming alliances with the other Powers, 
which of course will be taken (as was intended) as a menace 
to France, nothing could be more ill-advised than such an 
announcement, for the other Great Powers have neither the 
ability nor the inclination to join us in any coalition, present 
or prospective, against France. Russia and Austria hate us, 
as well they may, for we have done them both all the injury 
in our power, besides heaping every sort of insult upon them. 
Austria is totally ruined, hopelessly bankrupt and torn to 
pieces with internal disaffection and discontent. Eussia is 
hampered with her great serf question, and overwhelmed 
with financial embarrassments, which she owes in great 
measure to the Crimean War, and the unfortunate dissen- 
sion and estrangement between her and Austria are at- 



534 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

tributable to the same cause and to our policy. Prussia, the 
only one of the three that is able to make any efforts, and 
that has no cause of enmity against us, is always selfivsh 
and timorous, and is more occupied in trying to supplant 
Austria in Germany than in taking defensive measures 
against French ambition ; nor is there in Germany any such 
strong sentiment of national independence as might induce 
the various States to sink their minor Jealousies and partisan- 
ships in a general union, to meet any aggression that may 
proceed from France. Among the many schemes which the 
Imperial brain is supposed to be continually engendering, it 
is far from impossible that one may be the reconstruction 
of the kingdom of Westphalia, or at least of some Rhenish 
kingdom witli the concurrence of Prussia, by concluding a 
bargain of partition with her. He might then replace old 
Jerome on the throne, and so get rid of his obnoxious son, of 
course taking as much of such acquired territory as he wanted 
for himself. All this is mere vague conjectural speculation, 
but it is on the cards, and it is at least as probable as that we 
should be able to form another coalition, like that which 
overthrew the first Napoleon, strong enough to cope with 
the present Napoleon. People are beginning at last to doubt 
w^hether the war we waged against Russia four years ago was 
really a wise and politic measure ; but the whole country 
went mad upon that subject, I never could understand why. 
Palmerston took it up to make political capital out of it, and 
made himself popular by falling in with the public humor, 
and making the country believe that he was the only man 
really determined to make war on Russia, and able to bring 
the war to a successful end. Aberdeen, who was wise enough 
to see the folly of quarrellmg with Russia and sacrificing all 
our old alliances to a new and deceitful one with France, was 
unable to stem the torrent, and fell under its violence. His 
fault was his not resigning office when he found it impossi- 
ble to carry out his policy and maintain peace. 

A propos of the Russian War, I heard lately an anec- 
dote for the first time that surprised me. Everybody knows 
that we beat up for allies and even mercenary aid against 
Russia in every direction, but it is not known that our 
Government earnestly pressed the Portuguese Government 
to join in the war, and to send a contingent to the Crimea, 
and that on the refusal of the latter to do so, the Ministers 
made the Queen appeal personally to Lavradio and urge him 



I860.] CONVERSATION WITH CLARENDON. 535 

to persuade his Government to comply with our wishes ; but 
Lavradio represented to Her Majesty, as he had done to her 
Ministers, that Portugal had no quarrel with Eussia, and no 
interest in joining in the war ; on the contrary, Portugal was 
under obligations to the Emperor of Kussia, and she there- 
fore would have nothing to do with the contest. This was a 
most extraordinary proceeding, and it was contrary to all 
usage as well as all propriety to make the Queen interpose in 
person on such an occasion. 

April ith. — Clarendon has just been here talking over 
the state of affairs, in the course of which he alluded to 
what had passed in the autumn of '58 between the Emperor 
and him, and between His Majesty and Palmerston. In 
September he had a long conversation with the Emperor, in 
the course of which he asked Clarendon, "Supposing I find 
myself compelled to go to war with Austria, what part would 
England take in the contest?" Clarendon replied that it 
would depend ujion the circumstances of the case and the 
cause that would be shown for such a war, and that he must 
not be misled by the language of the English Press and the 
prejudice which no doubt existed in England against Austria 
and her system of government, which would not be sufficient 
to make us take any part against her. On comparing notes 
with Palmerston afterward, Clarendon found that Louis 
Napoleon had put the same question to Palmerston, who had 
given him the same answer. When they went to Com- 
pi^gne in November of the same year, they both had conver- 
sations separately of the same character, and when they after- 
ward compared notes and Clarendon asked Palmerston what 
impression the Emperor's words had left on his mind, Palm- 
erston replied he thought either that the Emperor had 
abandoned the design he had certainly been meditating to go 
to war, or he had resolved upon it, but did hot choose to 
acknowledge his intentions to them, and this Clarendon said 
was exactly the same opinion as he had formed. This, how- 
ever, was not above six weeks before his famous speech to the 
Austrian Ambassador (which was a declaration of war), and 
therefore the latter conjecture was the correct one. . We 
talked over Lord John's speech and his letter in answer 
to Thouvenel. Clarendon said that this dispatch was en- 
tirely written by Palmerston himself, that anybody as well 
acquainted with their styles as he was must be quite certain 
of this, but that he knew it to be the case. He had a con- 



536 REIGN or QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

versation with Palmerston the other day, who praised Lord 
John's speech and said it would do good, and he thought the 
question of Savoy ivas in a very satisfactory state. 

Palmerston, he told me, had said more to Flahault ^ than 
I had been apprised of. Flahault went to him, and found 
him Just going to the House of Commons. Flahault asked 
him to let him get into his carriage, which he did, and when 
Flahault asked what he should say to the Emperor, and 
Palmerston told him to say that the Emperor had better 
read Lord John's speech, and understand that he (Palmer- 
ston) agreed in every word of it, Flahault said, "Then you 
mean that you have no longer any confidence in the Em- 
peror, or place any reliance upon his word." Palmerston 
replied, "1 do mean this. After having been repeatedly 
deceived and misled by his professions and assurances, it is 
impossible that I can place any further confidence in him." 
Then said Flahault, ''There will be war," to which Palmer- 
ston rejoined that he hoped not, that nobody could be more 
anxious to avoid war than he was. 

This was very spirited and becoming, and Clarendon said 
he highly approved of such a tone. 1 said that I had all 
along suspected that there was a secret understanding and 
collusion between Palmerston and the Emperor, and that 
Palmerston had given His Majesty to understand that if he 
would set Italy free, he might do what he pleased with re- 
gard to Savoy, but that what had recently passed seemed to 
negative that idea. Clarendon replied he had no doubt 
Palmerston had very often said to Persigny what, if repeated 
by Persigny to the Emperor with some exaggerations and 
suppressions, would convey as much to His Majesty, for 
Palmerston had a dozen times said to him (Clarendon) that 
the liberation and settlement of Italy was of far greater con- 
sequence than the preservation of Savoy to Piedmont. 

April 8th. — To The Grove on Thursday afternoon, and 
returned yesterday. On Good Friday morning George Lewis 
and I were left alone, when we talked over the questions of 
the day, and he quite amazed me by the way in which he 
spoke of his principal colleagues. I asked him if John Eus- 
sell was not exceedingly mortified at the ill-success of his 
Eeform Bill and its reception in the House of Commons 
and in the country. George Lewis said he did not think he 

1 [Count de Flahault v,'as at this time Frencli Ambassador iu London.] 



I860.] PROBABLE FATE OF THE REFORM BILL. 537 

felt this, that at present his mind was entirely occupied with 
foreign politics, and he was rejoicing in the idea of having 
been largely instrumental to the liberation of Italy ; and as 
to Reform, that he was satisfied with having redeemed the 
pledge he gave to Bright to propose a Gl. franchise, and hav- 
ing done this he did not care about the result, as he had 
never pledged himself to carry it. The most strange thing 
to me is, that George Lewis seemed not to be alive to the 
culpable levity of such conduct, or to the censure to which 
his own conduct is obnoxious in consenting to act with such 
a man, and to be a party to such a measure. 

With regard to Palmerston, he said that Palmerston 
thought of nothing but his pro-Sardinian and anti-Austrian 
schemes, and he was gratified by seeing everything in that 
quarter turning out according to his wishes, that in the 
Cabinet he took very little part and rarely spoke. Gladstone 
George Lewis evidently distrusts, and his financial schemes 
and arrangements are as distasteful to him as possible. He 
is provoked at Gladstone's being able to bear down all oppo- 
sition, and carry all before him by the force of his eloquence 
and power of words, and what I have said of his conduct in 
supporting John Russell is still more applicable to it in 
reference to Gladstone and his measures, which he thinks 
more dangerous by far than he does Lord John's Reform 
Bill and 61. clause. I asked him what was to be the end of 
this Bill, and he said he did not expect it to pass, that prob- 
ably the debates on it Avould be so spun out and so many 
delays interposed that either it would fail in the House of 
Commons itself, or even if it passed, the House of Lords 
would say it came up too late for them to examine and con- 
sider it, and it would be thrown out there. I gathered in 
the course of conversation that Palfnerston (whose whole 
antecedents and recorded opinions forbid the idea of his 
approving such a measure) would be glad to see the franchise 
raised, and that 8^. and 15/. would in his view improve the 
Bill. 

3fay 6th. — Since I wrote the above, nearly a month ago, 
I have been out of the way of hearing anything on public 
affairs, till a day or two ago when I called on Clarendon, 
when he told mo some things not without interest, partly 
about domestic and partly about foreign affairs. The latter 
of course related to the inexhaustible subject of the Emperor 
Napoleon's projects and machinations. His Majesty, it seems. 



538 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

"has recently had a conversation with M. de Moustier, French 
Minister at Vienna, in the course of which he told him that 
it Avas an absolute necessity to France to carry her frontier 
to the Khine. About the same time Cavour had signified 
(I forget whether it was to the same de Moustier or to some 
other person) that Sardinia must obtain possession of Venetia. 
These necessities, it can hardly be doubted, are expressed 
and resolved upon by a common accord. Austria has been 
already completely crippled by the late war ; if threatened 
in Italy she will employ all her resources in defence of her 
Italian territory, and she will be quite unable, even if she 
were willing, to join in any measures of resistance to the 
attempts of France upon Germany. Prussia has had the 
egregious folly to renew her feud with Denmark upon the 
affair of Schleswig-Holstein, and is about to provoke a fresh 
war on that question. Denmark thus threatened appeals to 
France for aid, which France is too happy to afford, as she 
will thereby in all probability find a good pretext for inter- 
ference, and for the furtherance of all her designs. There 
seems no doubt that a Treaty of some sort has been con- 
cluded between France and Denmark. In this difficult and 
menacing posture of affairs, England will sooner or later 
have to play a part of some sort, and it is disquieting enough 
to reflect upon our diplomacy being under the charge of 
John Eussell and of Palmerston. 

After lingering on for several weeks with unprecedented 
tardiness and delay, and a languid, uninteresting discussion 
— debate it cannot be called — the second reading of the Ee- 
form Bill has at last passed without opposition. The last 
nights have been remarkable for the sijeeches hostile to the 
Bill of several Liberal members, and the increasing proofs of 
its prodigious unpopularity. Everybody is sick of the sub- 
ject, and those who desire that some modified and amended 
measure may pass, only do so because they have a horror of 
seeing another Bill brought in next year, and they hope that 
they may now purge this Bill of its worst and most danger- 
ous defects, and close the subject for several years to come. 
Some think that it is impossible to devise any means by 
which this Bill can be made anything like safe and expedient, 
and would therefore prefer to throw it out and run all 
chances for the future. At least one half of the Government, 
with Palmerston himself at the head of the dissentients, re- 
gard this Bill with alarm and aversion, and now that the 



I860.] LORD GREY AND JOHN RUSSELL. 539 

difficulty, if not impossibility, of passing it is obvious, they 
are prepared to make every sort of sacrifice, even of its most 
vital provisions. Palmerston told George Lewis so, and that 
John Eussell himself would submit to an alteration of the 
franchise to the amount of £15 for the counties and £8 for 
the towns. They know that no question of resignation is 
involved in this discussion, and that whatever may be the 
fate of their Bill, they will still keep their places, which no 
concession will endanger, and accordingly they are ready to 
agree to any compromise which will secure the Bill's passing 
through Parliament in any shape or way ; but, notwithstand- 
ing this pliant disposition, it is very doubtful whether the 
Bill can pass. It will not commence its career in Committee 
till the first week in June, and it is hardly possible it can 
reach the House of Lords before the middle or end of July, 
and the Lords may very well decline to enter on its consid- 
eration at that late period. 

May 9ih. — A correspondence appears in the newspapers 
between Lord Grey and John Russell, couched in terms of 
no small bitterness. Such a correspondence between men 
of such eminence and of the same political color shows up 
to the world the insincerity with which, for political motives 
at the time urgent, they have spoken in their places in Par- 
liament. It is no new thing that members of the same 
Cabinet should often differ, and that vehemently on particu- 
lar questions, and yet when these questions come under Par- 
liamentary discussion, that they should exhibit to the world 
the semblance of an agreement and concurrence which is re- 
mote from the truth. But though this is well understood 
to be of not unfrequent occurrence, and sooner or later the 
details of the truth often leak out, it is much to be regretted 
that men should exhibit themselves and each other in the 
way which this correspondence does, for such exhibitions 
cannot fail to excite suspicions of the sincerity, conscientious- 
ness, and truth of public men. When Governments are en- 
tirely of one party color, either wholly Whig or wholly Tory, 
and when they are presided over by some man of superemi- 
nent authority, such differences and consequent difficulties 
are not likely to happen often ; but as of late years parties 
have been broken up, and composite Governments have been 
formed, combining men of the most opposite original prin- 
ciples, and imbued with very different and incompatible 
opinions on various subjects, it must be continually happen- 



540 KEIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

ing that candid discussions and disputes in the Cabinet 
should be followed by insincere and untruthful declarations 
and argumentations in public. The understood practice 
from time immemorial has been, that a dissentient from the 
general opinion of his colleagues upon any important ques- 
tion must either consent to merge his own opinion iu theirs, 
or retire from office ; and then the conduct of the dissen- 
tient was regulated by his view of the importance of the 
matter at issue. Of course if a man were to break off from 
his colleagues upon every matter of difference, however 
small,, no Government could possibly go on for many months 
or perhaps weeks, but it is impossible in these days not to 
be struck with the fact that so many men are indisposed to 
consider anything of sufficient importance to resign their 
offices rather than sacrifice their enlightened consciences and 
mature judgments. 

May 12th. — Not more than three months ago Gladstone 
was triumphant and jubilant ; he had taken the House of 
Commons and the country captive by his eloquence, and 
nothing was heard everywhere but songs of praise and ad- 
miration at his marvellous success and prodigious genius. 
There never was a greater reaction in a shorter time. Every- 
body's voice is now against him, and his famous Treaty and 
his Budget are pronounced enormous and dangerous blunders. 
Those who were most captivated now seem to be most vexed 
and ashamed o£ their former fascination. They are provoked 
with themselves for having been so duped, and a feeling of 
resentment and bitterness against him has become widely 
diffused in and out of the House of Commons, on his own 
side as well as on the other. It was the operation of this 
feeling which caused the narrow majority on the Paper 
Duties the other night, when it seems as if a little more 
management and activity might have put him in a minority, 
and it is the same thing which is now encouraging the 
House of Lords, urged on by Derby, to throw out the Reso- 
lution when it comes before them. Derby has announced 
that he shall exert himself to the utmost to procure the re- 
jection of the Bill in the House of Lords, and if he perse- 
veres he will probably obtain a very unwise and jDerilous suc- 
cess, which he will before long have to regret. 

May 17th. — Clarendon dined with Derby about a week 
ago, when Derby explained to him all his reasons for persist- 
ing in his opposition to the Paper Duties Bill. Clarendon 



1S60.] FREDERICK CADOGAN. 541 

said he did not talk rashly and in Eupert vein, but gave a 
well-considered and well-argiied statement of the grounds 
on which he purposed to proceed. Clarendon evidently sym- 
pathized with him, but not without much apprehension 
and doubt as to the expediency of his course. Derby appears 
to have taken and to be taking prodigious pains with his 
case, and he said that his object was to have a great financial 
debate in the Lords on the Treaty and the Budget. Gran- 
ville tells me they shall be beaten by a large majority, and 
he owns that the debate will be almost all one way. There 
is nothing on the Treasury Bench or behind it able to grap- 
ple with Derby, Monteagle, Overstone, and Grey on such a 
question, though Granville expects Argyll to get up the 
question and to speak well on it, and he expects something 
from Newcastle and Ripon, but Clarendon told me (which 
of course he had from Lewis) the curious fact that Palmer- 
ston himself views with pleasure the prosi)ect of the rejec- 
tion of the Bill. A queer state of things indeed when the 
Prime Minister himself secretly desires to see the defeat 
of a measure so- precious to his own Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer. 

Frederick Cadogan came over from Paris the other day, 
and told Clarendon that Cowley was in very bad spirits 
about the aspect of foreign affairs, that all intimacy and con- 
fidence between the Emperor and him was at an end, and 
that it was more and more evident that His Majesty meant 
to follow his own devices, whatever they might be, without 
reference to anybody, or caring for the opposition or the as- 
sent of any other Powers, 

The Garibaldi expedition is supposed to have given great 
umbrage to France, but not without some suspicions that 
secretly she is not sorry for it, and thinks in its complica- 
tions she may find matter to turn to her own account. Every- 
body believes that Cavour has covertly connived at it, though 
he pretends to oppose it. Certainly no resolute attempts 
were made to obstruct the expedition by the Sardinian Gov- 
ernment, and none whatever by France, who, if she really 
cared to stop it, might easily have done so by sending ships 
from Toulon for the purpose. 

Talking of Neapolitan affairs, Pahlen told me yesterday 
an almost incredible anecdote, but of which he said tliere 
was no doubt of the truth. There is just arrived a new Nea- 
politan Minister, Count Ludolph, grandson of the Ludolph 



542 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

who was formerly here. He has replaced the former Minister, 
who by his own desire was recently recalled, and he had 
begged for his recall because he had been grossly insulted 
by Palmerston at the Queen's Drawing Eoom, his story 
being that in that room, in the Queen's presence (who was 
of course out of hearing), Palmerston had attacked him on 
the proceedings of his Government and the conduct of the 
King, telling him that a revolution would probably be the 
consequence thereof, which would be nothing more than they 
deserved, and which would be seen in this country with 
universal satisfaction. The man was so flabbergasted by 
this unexpected and monstrous sortie that he had not pres- 
ence of mind to make a suitable answer, and to riposter with 
the spirit which the occasion required of him. I must en- 
deavor to find out if this is true. Palmerston has always 
been noted for the vivacity and often acerbity of his lan- 
guage in despatches, but in oral communications and in 
speeches he has never been reproached with intemperance 
or incivility, but, on the contrary, has always evinced self- 
control and gentlemanlike and polite behavior and language. 
May 28th. — Epsom engaged all my attention last week, 
and I could not find time to notice the debate in the Lords 
on the Paper Duties, and the extraordinary majority, so 
much greater than anybody expected. Lyndhurst under- 
took to speak on the constitutional part of the question, 
and got leave to speak early (between Granville and Mont- 
eagle) that he might go home to celebrate his birthday, 
which fell on that day, when he completed his eighty-eighth 
year. He made a very good speech, and met with an en- 
thusiastic reception. Lady Palmerston was in the gallery, 
openly expressing her wishes that the Bill might be rejected 
by a large majority. Her language on this and other occa- 
sions so shocked some of the more zealous Whigs, that the 
Duke of Bedford was asked by one or more of them to re- 
monstrate with her on the way she talked, but she knows 
very well that Palmerston is of the same mind, though he 
cannot avow his real sentiments in the way she does. Palm- 
erston said to Gladstone, "Of course you are mortified and 
disappointed, but your disappointment is nothing to mine, 
who had a horse with whom I hoped to win the Derby, and 
he went amiss at the last moment." The affair has gone off 
very quietly, the House of Commons not being the least dis- 
posed to quarrel with the Lords about it. Even John Rus- 



ISCO.] REFORM BILL WITHDRAWN. 543 

sell, who had talked very absurdly, held moderate and pru- 
dent language in the House. ^ 

June Ibth. — At Ascot last week. Palmerston was there, 
and went up to town on Thursday (going reluctantly) to 
assist at the withdrawal by John Russell of the Reform 
Bill. There vvas a Cabinet the preceding day, at which 
Palmerston said, " We must now settle what is to be done 
about the Reform Bill." John Russell said, "I know what 
my opinion is, and if anybody wishes to hear it I am ready 
to give it.". They all said they did wish it, when he an- 
nounced that he thought it ought to be withdrawn. Every- 
body agreed except Gladstone, who made a long speech in 
favor of going on with it, which nobody replied to, and there 
it ended, A discussion took place as to what should be said, 
and strong opinions expressed that nothing but moderate 
language should be employed, which John Russell agreed to, 
and he acted up to it by making a very becoming speech, 
which would have been faultless if he had not announced 
another Reform Bill on the earliest possible occasion. This, 
too, he did entirely off his own bat, and without any con- 
sultation or agreement with his colleagues. Fortunately 
these announcements are no longer so important or so bind- 
ing as heretofore, and I think it probable, unless there is 
some great change in public opinion (which is not likely), 
that when the time draws near Palmerston and a majority 
of the. Cabinet will not consent to a fresh attempt. 

July Sih. — I have been so ill till within the last few days 
that I have not had energy enough to do anything. I have 
known but little, and that little I could not bring myself to 
write down here. In fact, it is high time that I should close 
these records once for all, which I am morally and physically 
incapable of continuing with any probability of making 
them interesting. It is not very consistent with this opinion 
to fill a page or two with the recent transaction in the House 
of Commons, with reference to the duty on paper. Every- 
body allows that Palmerston got out of his ditiiculty with 
consummate tact and discretion, and that Gladstone's con- 
duct was inexcusable. The Resolutions concocted by Palm- 
erston had been fully discussed and agreed to in the Cabinet 

• [A Bill for abolishin!? the duty on paper waa carried in the IIoiiPC of Com- 
mons on March 12 by a majority of 245 to 192. It was reiected on May 21 by 
the House of Lords by a niajority of 193 to 104. The dispute was eventually 
settled by a resolution lor removmg so much of the duty on paper as exceeded 
the Excise duty at home.] 



544 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. 

(reluctantly of course by Gladstone), and Palmerston's speech 
was received with general approbation in the House. It was 
excellent, fair and moderate, the argument logically consist- 
ent with the Eesolutions, but displeasing to Gladstone and 
the highflyers because it made a sort of excuse for the Lords, 
or rather it set forth the grounds on which the Lords might 
think themselves Justified in acting as they did, without 
having any of the motives and designs which the Gladstones 
and Brights attributed to them. All this elicited great ap- 
plause from the Opposition side of the House, and their 
cheers were very offensive to and grated on the ears of the 
ultra-Liberals. Everything would have ended quietly, and 
the Resolutions would have passed without a debate, but 
Gladstone could not stand it, and, urged by spite and morti- 
fication, he must needs get up and make a mcst violent 
speech, really, though not avowedly, in opposition to Palm- 
erston, and with the object of provoking a long and acrimo- 
nious debate. In this he only partially succeeded, and not for 
long. The debate lasted one night more, but nothing could 
be made of the Amendments. Palmerston kept his temper 
and displayed great firmness and resolution. The House 
was with him. Bright, partly from being very unwell, and 
probably partly from some discretion, made a moderate 
speech ;' everybody seemed determined to bring the matter 
to an end, and the Resolutions were very triumphantly car- 
ried. Granville told me yesterday morning that it was a 
toss up whether Gladstone resigned or not, and that if he 
did, it would break up the Liberal party, to which I replied 
that I was confident he would not resign, and if he did, it 
would have no effect on the bulk of the Liberal party. 

July nth. — I met Charles Villiers at dinner at the 
Travellers' last night and had some talk with him, partic- 
ularly about Gladstone. He thinks it far better that he 
should not resign, as he could, and probably would, be very 
mischievous out of office. He says people do not know the 
House of Commons, and are little aware that there is an ob- 
scure but important element in it of a Radical complexion, 
and that there are sixty or seventy people who would consti- 
tute themselves followers of Gladstone, and urge him on to 
every sort of mischief. They are already doing all they can 
to flatter and cajole him, and once out of office, his great 
talents and oratorical powers would make him courted by all 
parties, even the Tories, who would each and all be very glad 



I860.] A LETTER FROM THE SPEAKER. 545 

to enlist him in their service. It is impossible to calculate on 
the course of a man so variable and impulsive, but at present 
it looks as if he had made up his mind to swallow his mor- 
tifications and disappointments and to go on with his present 
colleagues, though Charles Villiers says he is very dejected 
and uneasy in his mind, and very gloomy in the Cabinet. 

I asked him if he had seen Senior's last Journals, relating 
his visit to Paris, which he had not. I told him they were 
very interesting, and that all his interlocutors, however vary- 
ing in opinions upon other subjects, were agreed as to the 
certainty of the Emperor's meditating fresh wars and ag- 
gressions, and sooner or later a war with us. He said he 
thought it probable that any attempt on Belgium would be 
deferred till after King Leopold's death (who is seventy-five 
years old), at which time in all probability the annexation 
would be attempted, and with very reasonable prospects of 
being assented to by the Belgians themselves, an idea which 
had not struck me, but which I think exceedingly likely. 

Buxton, August 11th. — I came here for my health and to 
try and patch myself up a fortnight ago, since which I have 
heard and learnt nothing of what is passing in the world 
but what I read in the newspapers. The session of Parlia- 
ment was drawing to a close, and it was understood that 
there was to be one more fight in the House of Commons (on 
the removal of the Customs duties on paper), and then the 
remaining business was to be hurried through as quickly as 
possible. The Opposition made strenuous efforts to obtain a 
majority, and were sanguine of success. The Speaker wrote 
me an account of what passed, and I shall copy out the 
greatest part of his letter. " The division of thirty-three on 
the Paper Duties was a surprise to all on the spot. As late 
as eleven that evening Sir George Grey told us the division 
seemed very doubtful. The Irishmen held off indignant at 
Palmerston's having mentioned with approval the landing of 
Garibaldi on the mainland. This was held to be an insulb 
to the Pope, so More O'Farrell, Monsell, Sir John Acton, and 
eight or ten more would not vote at all. It seemed doubtful 
to the last. It is a great thing for the Government in many 
ways, not the least in having won the battle without the 
Pope and his men. It puts the Government in so much 
better and stronger a position with that party. The great re- 
sult is to give some life to half-dead, broken-down, tempest- 
tossed Gladstone. When after the division he rose to pro- 



546 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, [Chap, XIX. 

pose the second Resolution, lie was cheered by the Free- 
traders as he had not been cheered since the Budget Speech. 
Colonel Taylor tells me they had been led to success by 
promises from two quarters. First the paper-makers and 
the ' Times ' engaged to bring fifty men to the post, and only 
brought five. The Irishmen promised to be twenty-five, but 
were only eleven, the others standing off and not yoting. I 
have a long letter from Cobden, angry about fortifications 
and Volunteers." This morning I received another letter from 
the Speaker, enclosing Cobden's, which he has sent me to 
read. He says, "It is written in rather a spirit of exaggera- 
tion, but it is the fault of Cobden's mind to see one object so 
strongly, that his view cannot embrace another at the same 
time." Cobden's is well written, and contains much that is 
true, but he has evidently been so cajoled and flattered at 
Paris that he is now completely bamboozled, and so credulous 
that he takes for gospel all the Emperor says, and complains 
bitterly of " all that is going on at home" and especially of 
the tone of Palmerston's and Sidney Herbert's speeches. 
"Believing," he says, " that the new French tariff will realize 
a complete revolution in the commercial relations of the two 
countries, and having taken pains to impress this opinion on 
the Government, I am amazed at the course they are taking. 
The language of Palmerston and Sidney Herbert, coupled 
with thefortification scheme (he says), cuts the ground, on 
which I urged the Emperor to enter on the Free Trade 
policy, from under my feet. Nine tenths of his motives for 
making the plunge into that policy now were political rather 
than politico-economical ; he aimed at conciliating the Eng- 
lish people, and I did not hesitate to assure him that if he en- 
tered without reserve on the Free Trade path it would be taken 
as a proof of his pacific intentions by the British public." 

London, November ISth. — At the end of three months 
since I last wrote anything in this book, I take my pen in 
hand to record my determmation to bring this journal (which 
is no journal at all) to an end. I have long seen that it is 
useless to attempt to carry it on, for I am entirely out of the 
way of hearing anything of the slightest interest beyond 
what is known to all the world. I therefore close this record 
without any intention or expectation of renewing it, with a 
full consciousness of the smallness of its value or interest, and 
with great regret that I did not make better use of the opportu- 
nities I have had of recording something more worth reading. 



I Is' D E X . 



ABERDEEN, Et. Hon. Earl of, formation 
of Govtrnment. difficulties attendint; it, 
15, 16; in part owing- to Lord J. Russell, 
17, IS; the new Ministry's first appear- 
ance, 21 ; discontent of Whi<;s, t'l ; list of 
Cabinet, 25; meeting of Parliament, 33; 
iudicious answers of in the House. 39; 
h irmony of Government of, 56; divided 
Cabinet of. on Eusso-Turkish question, 58 ; 
impending war viewed by. 5i> ; attacks of 
Tory press on, 6(1 ; explanations of policy 
of, demanded in Parliament, 61 ; confi- 
dence of, in Russian Emperor shaken, 62 ; 
chances, hopes, of peace, 64; proposed 
Convention considered, 66, 6S ; Cabinet of, 
summoned on Eastern crisis. T8; agree- 
ment as to poliev, SO ; wish of to resign, 
on failure of peace policy, 82; Cabinet dis- 
cussion as to meeting of Parliament, 87 ; 
Proctocol agreed on by four Powers. 94 ; 
charced by Lord Derby with imparting 
Stiite sfcrets to the ''Times," 126; denial, 
and defence against Lord Malmesbury, 
126; attacks upon peace policy of, 14^^; 
difference of opinion of, between him and 
Lord Clarendon, 159; goes to Windsor to 
resign, 2iU. 

Adair, Sir Eobert, death of 252. 

Albert, H. E. U. Prince, attacks on, by Tory 
press, lOli ; charges against him of taking 
part in State affairs, 110 ; vindication of, 
in Parliament, 114; letter of to King of 
Prussia, 15S; visit of, to France, 15s ; con- 
versation with the French Ernperor, 161 ; 
made Prince Consort by patent, 870; 
visits Brussels, 374. 

Alliance, the Holy, correspondence concern- 
ing, between Emperor of Russia and 
Prince Regent, 249. 

Alma, battle of the. 162. 

Anglesey, the Marquis of, death of, 134 ; 
character of, 134, 135. 

Anson, General, letters of hinting discontent 
in Indian Army, 365; death of, from chol- 
e\'.a, S71. 

Ashburton, Lady, death of; character of, 
366. 

Austria, policy of Austrians at Milan, 41 ; 
Emperor of, stabbed, 40; mediation at- 
tempted by, 62; hesitates to side against 
Russia, 116; fears to declare war against 
Russia, 147; new declaration of neutrality, 



161 ; declares war against Sardinia. 4S4 ; 
armistice of Villafrauca, peace coucluded, 
496. 



BANK, the, of England, empowered to ex- 
ceed limits of Bank Act of IS44, 3S6. 

Baragu.ay d'Hilliers, mission of to Constan- 
tinople, SS ; veto of against Briiish Fleet 
entering Black Sea, 103; recalled i>y French 
Government from Constantinople. 13S. 

Beauvnle and Melbourne, Lord, death of, 
30 ; character and career of 3o, 31 ; — Lady, 
grief of on her husband's death. 32. 

Bedford, seventh Duke of, disheartened 
about politics. 12; papers and correspond- 
ence of, 41 ; his part in political crisis of 
1852,72, 73; conversation of on Lord J. 
RnsselTs position and circumstances. 127, 
128; endeavor of to persuaile him to with- 
draw Reform Bill, 131 ; conversation of, 
on Lord J. Russell's retirement. 252; at- 
tempts recdnciliation between Palmerston 
and Lord John, 248 ; confers with Mr. 
Greville. 255. 

Berrv, Miss Mary, death of, 8 ; character of, 
9, io. 

Bicker.stetb. Dr., made Bishop of Ripon. 332. 

Bomba, King of Naples, tyranny and inso- 
lence of 824, 320. 

Brigade, the Light, charge of 170, 171. 

Bright. Mr. J., bitter speech of against Lord 
J. Russell, 140 ; letter of, on the war, 168 ; 
speech on the war. 183. 

Brunnow, Baron, severe comment of, on 
Lord J. Russell as Foreign Secretary. 27 ; 
conversation of with Lord Clarendon, on 
Russia. 47 ; dre.ads having to leave this 
country, 56; fli-st to arrive at Paris Con- 
gress, 288. 

Buckle, Mr., dines with Mr. Grote, 424. 



CAMBRIDGE. H. R. 11. Princess Mary of, 
offer of marriage to, from Prince Napo- 
leon, 114. 115. 
Canada Clergy Reserves Bill, 52. 
Canning. Lord, attacks of press on, 383 ; de- 
fended by Lord Granville at Mansion 
House, 384; by Palrnerston, 385 ; defend- 
ed by the "Times," 395; proclamation oi; 
to people of Gude, 438. 



548 



INDEX. 



Canrobert, Field-Marshal, letters of, on Brit- 
ish ariuy, lyl. 

Cardweli, Mr., motion of, against Lord Ellen- 
borough's Despatch, 441 ; motion with- 
drawn, 444. 

Cavoar, M. do, Italian Minister, policy of, 
4r4 ; return of, to office, olS) ; share in an- 
nexation of tjavoy, 6'itf. 

Clanrioarde, Marquis of, announces a defence 
in House of Lords, 422 ; withdraws an- 
nouncement, 42U. 

Clarendon, Kt. Hon. Earl of, his account of 
Czar's proposals aljout Turkey, 4t; ; France, 
47; conversation of, with Brunnow, 47; 
opinion of Russian assurances, oti ; fears 
of, on Eastern question, 53; difficulties ot; 
between Aberdeen and Palmerston, S(i; his 
despatch on Turkish relations, 87: abor- 
tive attempts at negotiation, 93; disagree- 
ment with Aberdeen, 93; disgust of, at 
Austrian neutrality, 161 ; visit to French 
Emperor and fieedom of press, 218; con- 
versation with King of Sardiniji, 262 ; on 
bitter feeling between Walewski and Per- 
signy, 2ii7; united piilicy of, with Palmer- 
ston, 273 ; attends Paris Congress, 233 ; 
favorable views of peace, 304 ; on atro- 
cities at Naples, 323 ; on ihe Palmerston 
Government of 1355, 332; dictatorial poli- 
cy toward Brazil, 334 ; conversation of, 
with the Queen, on Palmerston, 369 ; 
pressed to take office by the Queen, 495; 
on Mr. Gladstone's Budget, 525; on French 
commercial treaty, 525. 

Cobden, Richard, motion of, on the China 
question carried, 352 ; defeat of, with 
Manchester men, at general election, 361 ; 
declines office under Palmerston, 496 ; 
commercial treaty with France, 520; op- 
position to treaty, 522 ; his belief in the 
French Emperor, and in Free Trade 
policy, 546. 

Cookburn, Sir Alexander, made Lord Chief 
Justice Common Pleas, 329, 330 ; anecdote 
of 331. 

Codrington. General Sir William, appointed 
to command British forces in Crimea, 
253. 

Commons, House of: Disraeli's amendment 
on the Villiers resolutions, 7 ; Palmerston's 
motion carried, 10 ; debate, Disraeli's 
Budget, 12, 13; Disraeli's attack on Aber- 
deen Government, 36; Jew and Maynooth 
questions carried, 38: Government defeats 
on detached questions, 50 ; debate on 
Gladstone's Budget, 50 ; Income Tax ma- 
jority, 53 ; Lord J. Kussell on Irish Church, 
57; damage to Government thereby, 58; 
debate. India Bill, 59; discussion of Turk- 
ish question, 69 ; session closed by Palm- 
erston's speech, 69 ; vindication of Prince 
Albert by Lord J.Russell, 114; Kefoi-m 
Bill introduced by Lord J. Russell, 119; 
debate on Blue Books, 120; bitterness of the 
Opposition on the war, 129: debate on Mr. 
Gladstone's financial speech, 137 ; Mr. J. 
Baring's motion defeated, 139 ; Russell's 
Oaths Bill defeated, 139; encounter be- 
tween Disraeli and Lord J. Russell, 140 ; 



Church Rates Bill and University Bill, 
admission of Dissenters, debate on, 144* 
an appointment cancelled, 14S; session 
woimd up, 149; defence of Government 
war policy by Mr. S Herbert.. 180 ; Foreign 
Enlistment Bill carried, 182; motion of Mr. 
Roebuck to enquire into CLiiduct of war, 
198; the motion carried, 2iil ; Palmer.ston's 
first speech as Prime Minister, 210; war 
debate, 224 ; indiscreet revelations of Lord 
J. Kussell, 233 ; debate on the Address 
(Peace), 283; debate on opening of 
British Museum on Sunday, 289 ; Disraeli's 
attack on Government, 292; Appellate 
Jurisdiction Bill defeated, 316 ; debate on 
supposed treaty between France and Aus- 
tria, 847; dispute between Disraeli and 
Palmerston, 347 ; Cobden's motion on 
China question carried against the Gov- 
ernment, 352 ; dissolution of Parliament, 
356 ; attack of Disraeli, at outbreak in In- 
dia, 374 ; debate on the Divorce Bill, 375 ; 
debate on the Conspiracy Bill, -^12 ; Bill 
defeated, 414; resignation of Lord Palmer- 
ston, 414 ; Disraeli attacked by B. Os- 
borne, 426 ; debate on India Bill, 480 ; de- 
bate on Disraeli's Budget. 484; debate on 
Inli;i, 438; debate on Lord Ellenborough's 
Despatch, 4-tl ; collapse of debate, 444 ; 
India Bill passed, 450 ; deba'.e on Disraeli's 
Relorm Bill, 469 ; debate on Lord John's 
Reform Resolutions, 476; debate. Resolu- 
tions carried. Bill defeated, 47S ; debate on 
want of confidence, 4t 0.491; Government 
defeated, 491 ; debate on Gladstone's 
Budget, 524; majority for Budget, 526; 
debate on Russell's Reform Bill, 531 ; de- 
bate on Paper Duties Bill, carried, 543, 545. 

Conde, Prince de, death of 427. 

Conservative party, tone of. against Lord 
Aberdeen, 15; violence of Tories toward 
Gladstone, 20 ; suicidal conduct of, 52. 

Conspiracy Bill, the, 413 : defeated, 414. 

Corruption, electoral, during Aberdeen Gov- 
ernment, 55. 

Council, Privy, at Windsor, 92 ; Privy Coun- 
cil, hcenses issued by, for export of stores 
to neutral ports, 132 ; meeting to consider 
question of trade with Russia, 167; meet- 
ing of to appoint Day of HumiUation, 133. 

Cowley, Lord, Ambassador at Paris, conver- 
sation of, with French Emperor, 91 ; cor- 
respondence of Clarendon with, on Louis 
Napoleon's lett'^r to the Czar, 118, 119; 
anecdote of. with Walewski. 270 ; views of 
Paris Congress, 294. 295 ; enlightens French 
Emperor on Russian intrigue, 327; cold- 
ness of Emperor to, at Paiis, 384 ; mission 
to Vienna. 405. 

Crimea, landing in. of British forces. 162. 

Crimean war, new light on causes of, 47; 
anecdote connected with, 175. 

Croker, Rt. Hon. J. W., death of, 877. 



D'AUMALE, Duo, at The Grove, 509. 
Delane, Mr. John, editor of " Times," 
letter to, from Lord Aberdeen, (34: conver- 
sation of, with Lord Aberdeen, 96 ; with 



INDEX. 



549 



Mr. Greville, ITii; urgres the building of 
wooden houses for the troops, 175. 

Dellii, capture of, ;te6. 

Decisou, Kt. Hon. Sir E., elected Speaker, 
3t!o 

Derby, Et. Hon. the Earl of, resignation of, 
14 ; Liberal negotiations thereon, 1-1 ; 
speech of, on Canada Clergy R. serves Bill, 
5-'; scene in House, bi; sent for by the 
Queen, f.iils in torming a Government. 200 ; 
attacks the Uovernuient on China ques- 
tion. 352 ; readiness of. to join with Ulad- 
Btone, 355 ; sent for by the Queen, 41ii ; 
forms a Ministry, 421 ; Liberal programme 
of, 424; helped by Mr. Grevdie, -t2-<; re- 
solves to remain in office, 432; on defeat 
of Reform Bill, to dissolve, 4^1 ; speech of, 
481 ; speech of, at Mansion House, 4^4 ; de- 
feat of, and resignation, 491 : opposition of, 
to the Paper Duties Bill, 540. 

Devonshire, the Duke of, death of, 406. 

Disraeli, Rt. Hi m. Benjamin, Budget of. public 
opinion on, 12: on his own Budget, com- 
ments of.and on the Irish brigade, '2>; bitter 
attackof,(>utheGovernment,Charles\Vood, 
and Graham, 31) : effect of, on his own party, 
3(5; agrees to attack and villify Peel, 35 ; 
tries to force debate on Eastern Question, 
(33 : attacks Lord J. Russian, 14lJ ; his mo- 
tion on War debate defeated, 22.') ; reviews 
the session, 31S; triumph over Palmerston 
on I'a.is treaty, 347 ; waning influence in 
the country, 35.'); speech on outbreak in 
India, 374 ; political chat with Mr. Greville, 
S'Ji; ; suggests a fusion of parties, 4118 ; be- 
comes Chancellor of the Exchequer. 421 ; 
sanguine views of, 425: attacked by Hernal 
Osborne, 426; proposes his Budget, 434; 
violent speech at Siough, 445; his Reform 
Bill, 40.8 ; opposition to, 4T0 ; continued 
opposition to, by Liberals, 471 ; Reform 
Bill thrown out, 478. 

Drouyn de Lhuys, French Ambass.odor la 
London. 220: cause of his visit, 221; his 
' resignation, 226. 

ELLESMERE, Lord death of, and char- 
acter, 340-352. 

England, unpopularity of, abroad, how 
caused, 40 ; rancor of Northern Powers 
against, 42 ; friendly tone of French 
Emperor toward, 43; home difficulties, 
India, Eastern question, 4i ; English and 
French fleets sail for Dardanelles, 5"J ; 
hopes of peace. 67; dangers at Constan- 
tinople, two ships of e.ach fleet go up Diir- 
danelles, 73, 78 ; British and French fleets 
enter Black Sea, Oii; proposals of negotia- 
tion with Russia and Turkey, 107: Blue 
Books on Eastern question well received 
by public, 117; popularity of war, 118; 
war declared, r2S; union of English and 
French policy as to Spain, 14!) ; attack of 
allied forces on the Redan repulsed, 22S ; 
peace concluded, 307 : England's balance- 
sheet after war, 335; accused by France of 
harboring assassins, 4o9. 

Evans. General, proposes to embark troops 
after Inkerman, 305. 



FLAHATTLT, Count de, French Ambassa- 
dor at London, conversation of, with 
Palmerston. .536. 
Fould, M. Achille, invited to Windsor, 36S ; 

letter of French Emperor to, 518. 
Free trade, letter of ireuch Emperor on, 
witli France, 518. 



GARIBALDI e.Npedition, 511. 
iiibsoii, Mr. Milner, motion of, carried 
against Conspiracy Bill. 414. 

Glad>toue, Rt. Hon. W. E., famous Budget 
of, 50 ; popu arity consequent on, 51,52; 
attempt to e.vtort money from, 53 ; failing 
prestige as a flnancier, 130; failure of his 
Exchequer Bill, 135; his great speech on 
Budget, 137 ; speech against Lord J. 
Russell, 201 ; joins Lord Palmerston's 
Government, 207 ; reported leader of Op- 
position. 333 ; strong feeling against, on 
the China debate, 3.54; speech ofi the 
question, 3.')6 ; his article in " Quarterly," 
4.57; appointed Lord High Commissioner 
of Ionian Islands, 4(15 ; speech of, on his 
Budget, 524 ; second speech, and major- 
it)'. 526; reaction against his Budget, 540. 

Graham, Rt. Hon. Sir James, on Eastern 
question, opinion of. 76 ; indiscreet speech 
of!, at dinner to Admiral C. Napier, 1^5. 

Gr.inville, Rt. Hon. Earl of, conversation of, 
with Lord .1. Russell on Reform Bill, 123 ; 
super-neded by Lord John as President of 
Council, 141 ; conversation of, with Mr. 
Greville on Russian answer to Proposals, 
277 ; at coronation of Czar at Moscow, 
820 ; on its cost, 821 ; sent for by the 
Queen, 491 ; unable to form a Govern- 
ment, 492. 

Greville, Charles C , Mr., opinion of, on Wel- 
lington's funeral, 6 ; attends no Council 
during nine months of Lord Derby's Min- 
istry, 24 ; goes to Windsor, 24; visits Bo- 
wood, discusses Reform, 26 ; comments 
of, on Disraeli's oratory, 36; remarkable 
prediction of, as to France, 41 ; conversa- 
tion of. with Disr.ieli, 51 ; visits Ascot. 59; 
conversations with Clarendon on war, 61; 
with Crah-im on Fastern Question, 76; 
with Clarendon, 77; his conviction on 
party strife, 81 ; his view of Palmerston's 
position, 80; remarks on the Queen's sa- 
gacity, 87; opinion of, on Lord .1 Russell's 
Reform Bill, !I0; conversation of, with Gra- 
ham on Palmerston, 01. 92 ; conference of, 
with Duke of Bedford, on Palmerston, 95; 
on his resignation. 97; share of. in concilia- 
tory overtures to Palmerston, 98. !i9. 100 ; 
letter of, to the "Times" on Palmerston, 
98; strong letter of, to Graham. 102; final 
judgment of, on Palmerston's resignation, 
103; id., 104, 105; visit to Bowood, 105; 
conversation of, on Russian designs, 106 ; 
on alterations in Reform Bill, l(i7; com- 
ments of, on virulence of Tory press, 110; 
letters of, to "Morning Herald" and 
"Times." vindicating Prince Albert, 112 ; 
praises Clarendon, as compared with Palm- 
erston, 117; on Stratford's despatches. 



550 



INDEX. 



117 ; his opinion of Emperor Napoleon's 
conduct, liy ; on Lord J. Kussell's discon- 
tent, 127; and straitened tircomstauces, 
12S; strongrly disapproves of war, VlH. 129; 
on tlie weakness or' tlie (jtoveruinent, 192; 
ridicules notion of Fast Day, ld2 ; on ttie 
weali.iess of (Tovernment, laO; and brealv- 
down of parties, loO; on rasliness ot Uiad- 
stone.l-ij; conversation of,witli Lord Cow- 
ley, on French Emperor and the Court, los; 
his article in ''Kdinburgh Beview," I3i); 
on change of Government i)laus, 140; on 
Lord J. Russell's want of delicacy and 
consideration, 141; on Lord Johns de- 
plorable position, 144 ; on tlie character of 
Aberdeen's Government, 14'J; continued, 
150, 151 ; effect of quarrel with Kussia, 
153 ; and of Palunerston's resignation, 
154; on difficulties of the campaign, 158 ; 
on military commanders in Crimea, 15S ; 
on Ministerial disagreements, 159; on 
Prince Albert's visit to France, 160; on 
victory of Ahna, 162 ; on the Royal invita- 
tions, 163 ; on the Crimean expedition, 163 ; 
visit of, to Newmarket, and resolve to 
give up race-horses, 165; on the defence 
of Sebastopol, 169 : and issue of war, 170; 
nomination of Sheriffs, 171; on gallantry 
of English forces, 174; criticises accounts 
of Inkerman, 175; on Lord Raglan as a 
general, 177 ; the sufferings of the army, 
177; opinion oti, on Bright's letter, ISO; 
his review of the year (1854), 1S4; con- 
ference of, with Lord Cowley and Claren- 
don on French alliance, 184 ; on Austria, 
lb5, 186; on Lord J. Russell's position, 
189; on Russian diplomacy, 190; on de- 
plorable state of the army, 194 ; on 
chances of peace, 196; negotiations, 198; 
condemns Lord J. Russell's resignation, 
199 ; on his real motives, 202 ; comments 
of, on Palmerston's Government. 207 ; 
on Austrian policy, 195; on Talmerston's 
reception in House, 212 ; on the weakness 
of Palmerston and his Government, 215 ; 
literary occupations of, 22ii; on visit of 
French Emperor, his reception, 222 ; visit 
of, to Paris, 226 ; visits Thiers, and dines 
at the Tuileries, 229 ; conversation with 
Emperor, 230; picture of Versailles, 233; 
of St. Cloud, 234 ; severe comment of on 
Lord J. Russell's revelations in the House, 
236; Lord John's conduct explained by, 
250 ; at Newmarket, adieu to the turf, 253 : 
on Lord Stanley, 254 ; talk with Disraeli, 
intimate, 255 ; on further peace nego- 
tiations, converses with Mr. C. Viliiers and 
Sir G. Lewis, 259,260; on Palmerston's 
arrogance toward Russia, 266 ; on the 
poet Rogers. 266. 267 ; converses with Sir 
G. C. Lewis on the folly of the war, 268 ; 
discusses peace proposals to Russia, 2f 9 ; 
on the faint hopes of peace, 275 ; confers 
■with Sir G. C. Lewis, 275, 276 ; favorable 
views of Russian pohcy. 277; confers with 
Lord Granville, 2T7; hopes of peace, 279 ; 
Russia's acceptance of terms explained by, 
280 ; talk of, with Disraeli, on hM pros- 
pects, 282 ; on life peerages, 286 ; on Pe^e 



Congress at Paris, 288; on Sabbatarian- 
ism, 2sy ; on Kars and Nicolaielf— with 
Sir G. Lewis, 290, 291; on blunders of 
Government, 292 ; visits Paris, 2y3 ; his 
view ot the negotiations, '..i^, 2.)."; with 
Madame de Lieven, 2.0; at Tuiieries, and 
Emperors Sfieecli, 2dii ; dinea with VS alew- 
ski, 2y7 ; corners with Lord Cowley on 
Austrian poiicy, 298; on bitterness in 
Irench society, 29bi, 299 ; confers with M. 
Thiers on necessity of peace, SOn ; on 
terms of peace with Russia, K02 ; confers 
with Graham— gloomy views, oU7, 3u8; 
discussion of E. EUice's plan for new ar- 
rangement of Government, 810; opinion 
of, on his own Journal, 312 ; on Sunday 
bands, 313 ; conversation with Thackeray 
on American enhstment question, 314; on 
Madame liistori, 816 ; on O'DonneU and 
Espartero in Spain, 319; on fatal delay 
after battle of Alma, 319 ; on our interfer- 
ence at Naples, 321 ; giowing intimacy be- 
tween France and Russia, 322 ; on English 
Democrac3', d la Guizot, 323 ; on French 
intrigue with Russia, 324; pressure on 
King Bomba, 324, 325 ; converse with 
Lord Clarendon on Russian intrigue, 327 ; 
•ic/., on the Bolgrad question, 327 ; id., on 
Neapolitan atrocities, 328 ; on Cockburn's 
appointment, Lord Chief Justice, 8^9 ; on 
the proposed Conference at Paris (a farce), 
Sbl ; on Low Church Bishops, 332 ; on 
state of England after war, 335 ; on the 
Neufehatel dispute, 337; goes to hear 
Spurgeon preach, 345 ; on Palmerston and 
Disraeli, 347 ; on our relations with France, 
348; on Lord J. Russell's and Mr. Glad- 
stone's opposition in the House, 353 ; on 
the pending dissolution, 354 ; antagonism 
of, toward Palmerston, 359 ; on the defeat 
of Bright, Cobden, and Co., 364 ; break- 
fasts with M. Fould at Lord Granville's, 
368; on alarming condition of India, 371 ; 
and perils of mutiny, 372 ; on the life peer- 
ages, 378 ; attends Council at Balmoral, 
379; conversation with Lord Clarendon, 
on progress of mutiny, 381 ; on the Queen's 
attention to public business. 382 ; urges 
Lord Palmerston and Granville to defend 
Lord Canning, 384; on difficulties of the 
Government, and Lord J. Russell's posi- 
tion, 390 ; letter of, to Duke of Bedford 
urging Lord John to be patient, 390 ; on 
the East India Company and the Govern- 
ment, 391; on style of Queen's speech, 
392 ; on health of Lord Palmerston, 394 ; 
fears as to Lucknow, S96; on Crown jewels 
of Hanover, 401 ; on slave labor in French 
colonies, 403 ; enormous difficulties of In- 
dian policy. 404 ; conversation with Clar- 
endon on French feeling against England, 
410; on drowsiness of Ministers, 41 ;; review 
of Palmerston crisis, 414 ; shows how the 
catastrophe might have been avoided, 419; 
political coincidences, 422; on the Derby 
Ministry, 424 ; meets the Duke d'Aumale, 
427 ; on relations with France, 428 ; on 
Marshal Pelissier, 429 ; on Whigs and 
Peelites, 429 ; possibility of union, 432 ; on 



INDEX. 



551 



the proposed tesolutions for India Bill, 
438; with Lord Cnwley on relations of 
France and England. 486: with lord 
Derby on state of parties. 437 ; visits Lit 
tlecote House, 439; on the Kllenborough 
debate, 14 , 444; on Palmerstou's discoin- 
flture, 445; at Norman Court,4!7; confers 
■with Bruunow on the Kiissiun War, 4'i2; 
on Lord .lohii and J?tanley, 453 ; on the 
Queen's letter to the I'rince of Wales. 457 ; 
confers with Clarendon on Couipit'gne 
visit, 459: on Napoleon's designs, 460: on 
electric tele^jraph (1^5'J), 463; on general 
opposition to Austrian war, 467; Lord 
Cowley's mission, 46S ; on Cavour's policy, 
474; on Marliani, 479; on fears of war, 
4S3; on treachery of French Emperor, 484; 
resigns clerkship of Council, 4^5; doubts 
as to Lord John's intentions, 4S8; on peace 
after Solferino, 497 ; visits Ireland, 51)2; on 
Irish National Education, 5i»3; return to 
London, 5ii5; on quarrel with China, 5:i6; 
on Clarendon's interview with the Queen, 
507; on French Emperor and the '-Times," 
511; on Disraeli's commanding position, 
512; on Italian affairs and French Em- 
peror, 516, 517; negotiation of French 
Commercial Treaty, 520 ; on Tor^ opposi- 
tion to Reform, 523 : on French Emperor's 
mistake after Villafranca, 527; on Glad- 
stone's democratic opinions, 527; on French 
Emperor's designs, 536, 53S; on Senior's 
Journals, 545; visits Buxton, 645; close 
of his Journal, 54fi. 

Grey, Kight Hon. Sir George, statement of, 
in the House, on a cancelled appointment, 
14S. 

Guards, the, return o*, from Crimea, 317. 

Guise, Duke of, death of, 4i7. 

HANDEL Concerts, the, at Crystal Palace, 
3(;s. 

Hardinge, Rt. Hon. Lord, struck with pa- 
ralysis, 817. 

Havelock, General Sir H., heroism, peril of, 
at Lucknow, 33"< ; death of, 403. 

Huywfird, Mr , dinner at his house, politi- 
cal, 6. 

" Herald, Morning," the. virulence of, against 
Prince Albert, 111, 112. 

INCOME TAX, the, carried, 53. 
India, East, Company, charter of expir- 
ing, Bill for future government of, passed 
(1S53), 44; opposed by "Times," 45; ditfi- 
culty of the question, 45: petition of, to 
Parfiamcnt, 411; failure of Bill on, 4:?0; 
the Bill withdrawn, 435 ; India Bill passed, 
in Commons. 450. 
Inkerman, battle of, 172. 

1ERVI9. Et. Hon. Sir J., Chief Justice, 

r) Common Pleas, death of (1 ^56). 3'i9. 

Jewish question, the. Lord Stanley's Liberal 

vote thereon. 38 ; Disraeli's silence on, 38; 

Oaths Bill defeated, 139; acquiesced in by 

the Lords, 445 ; Bill passed, 450. 



LABOUCHEEE. Et. Hon. H., takes office 
under Palmerston as Colonial Secretary, 
256. 
Lancashire, distress in, 393. 
Lansdowne, Itt. Hon. Marquis of. unwilling- 
ness to 8cce|it Premii'isliip. 2; letter of, to 
Mr. C. Gr-.-ville on Palmerston's resigna- 
tion, 98: position of, at crisis, 9J ; Duke- 
dom refused by, 877. 
Leopold, King ot Belgians, his demeles with 

French Emperor, '66. 
" Leviathan." atterward " Great Eastern," 

thi' attempted launch of, 384. 
Lewis, Sir G Cornewull, joins the Palmerston 
Government as Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer, 214; character of, 846; conver- 
sation of, on Gladstone's finance, 587. 
Liberal party, divisions among, 1 ; hostility 
of Radicals, 2 ; negotiations of, on Lord 
Derby's resignation, 13, 14; resentment 
of, against Lord J. Kussell, 144; meeting 
of, at Willie's Eooms, 4S9. 
Liddell i). Westerton, case of,349 ; judgment 

reversi'd by Privy Council, 359. 
Lieven, Madame de, on the Russian war, 295 ; 

death of, 838; character of, o3s-345. 
I.ittlecote IIou.se, 439. 

Lords, House of. debate on Protection, and 
Lord Derby's abandonment of it, 6; Lord 
Derby's speech on the Duke of Welling- 
ton, 8 : speech of Lord Derby on Aberdeen 
(iovernment, 16; Aberdeen's statement as 
Prime Minister, 21, 24; Lord Derby's re- 
pudiation of Disraeli's Budget tactics, 29 ; 
Aberdeen questioned by Lord Derby, ridic- 
ulous scene in House, 34; Duke of Argyll 
agamst Lord Elleuborough. 39 ; debate on 
Clergy Reserves. 40; debate on Canada 
Clergy Bill, majority for Government. 52, 
53; scene in House described by Mr. Gre- 
ville, .%3; debate on Legacy Duties, 56* 
division on Succession Duties Bill, 66; 
Lord Derby's remark on, 67 ; Lord Claren- 
don's speech on Peace or War, 68 ; slash- 
ing speech of Lord Derby, 114 ; Prince Al- 
bert vindicated, 114; Lord Aberdeen's 
declaration in favor of peace. 118 ; Claren- 
don's speech in defence of Mini.sters. 121 ; 
debate on alleged secret correspondence 
with Russia, 126; debate on the war. Lord 
Lyndhurst's speech, 14^-^ ; Government ma- 
jority on University Bill, 146: attack on 
Government policy by Lord Derby, 180; 
debate on Foreign Enlir.tment Bill, 181 ; 
Duke of Newcastle's defence, 208 : Lim- 
ited Liability Bill forced through the 
House, 243: the Queen's Speech crili- 
cised by Lord Derby, 2s4 attack on Bar- 
on Parke's life peerage. 284 ; debate on life 
peerages, 2-;6. 291 ', debate on Maritime 
Law, 814 ; deb.ate on China Quesiion, 8.52; 
attack of Lord Ellenborough on Govern- 
ment at outbreak in India. 874 ; debate on 
the Divorce Bill, 870 ; Lord Derb.v's speech 
as Prime Minister, 422 ; Lord Lyndhurst's 
speech on Jews Bill, 487 ; debate on Lord 
Ellenborough. 443; debate on Jewish ques- 
tion. Bill passed, 450; Lord Chancellor's 
appointment of Lunacy Commissioner re- 



552 



INDEX. 



scinded, 4C5 ; speech of Lord Derby, 521 ; 

debate on Gladstone's Budget and Treaty, 

631 ; debate on Paper Duties Bill, 54-5. 
Lucknow, relief of, SSti ; bad news from ; 390. 
Ludolph, Count, Neapolitan Minister, attack 

of I'almerston on, 5i2. 
Lynd hurst, Kt. Hon. Lord, speech of, on the 

war, 143 ; speech of, on the Jews Bill, 4o7. 

TITACAULAT, Rt. Hon. T. B., on Judges' 

lU Exclusion Bill, speech of, 57; new vol- 
umes of History of England, 265; broken 
health, 2(55; retires from Parliament, 283; 
made a peer, 3T7; death of, 514. 

McNeill, Sir John, report of, on suffering of 
troops, 2S7. 

Marliani, an emissary from Cavour, 480. 

Meerut, breaking out of Indian Mutiny at 
(May, 1357), 370. 

Molesworth, Kt. Hon Sir W., death of. 253. 

Monsell, Mr., Eoman Catholic, difficulties in 
swearing him in as a Privy Councillor, 221. 

Montalembert, M., prosecution of, by Impe- 
rial Government, 458. 

" Morning Post," the, violent article against 
Prussia, 274. 

Moustier, M. de, conversation of, with French 
Emperor, 538. 

Mutiny, the Indian, progress of, 378, 379 ; 
day of humiliation for, 37'J ; reinforcements 
for India, 881 ; exaggerated accounts of 
cruelties, &c., 391 ; defeat of Windham, 403. 



NAPIEE, Admiral Sir Chas., dinner to, on 
his appointment to command Baltic 
fleet, 125; unpopularity of, on account of 
inactivity, 162. 
Napoleon III,, Emperor of the French, com- 
ment on, by M. de Flahault, 26; story of 
hi^ marriage told by Lord Clarendon, 82, 
33; details of, by Lord Cowlev, 34; opin- 
ion of H, M, the Queen, 35 ; friendly dis- 
position of, toward England, 48; increas- 
ing unpopularity of in France, 57; pro- 
fV'ssed desire of for peaceful i-olution, 74 ; 
letter of to Duchess of Hamilton. 74; sup- 
posed in frisue of with Russia. 75; assur- 
ances of his adherence to English policy, 
78; hbellous publications against (Bel- 
gium), 83; sends Baraguay d"Hilliers to 
Con,stantin<>ple, 88 ; reluctant to go to war, 
113; said to have instigated newspaper at- 
tacks on Prince Albert. 116 ; autograph let- 
ter of, to Emperor Nicholas, 118; invited 
by Prince Albert to Windsor, 159 ; conver- 
sation of, with the Prince, 161 ; visit of, 
to London, 222 ; declaration of strong ad- 
herence to England, 272; speech of. to 
Imperial Guard, asainst Prussia, 274; 
yields to Russian influence at Paris Con- 
gress, 294; birth of Prince Imperial, 303; 
visit of with Empress, to Osborne, 375 ; 
attempted assassination of, 41*5; threat- 
ened invasion of England, 410; effect of 
Orsini attempt on, 412 ; speech of to Bar- 
on Habner, 461 ; prevarication, 464 ; sup- 
posed tenderness of, 500 ; letter of, to King 
of Sardinia, 510 ; Congress proposed by, 



513; pamphlet of, on the Pope and the 
Congress, 5iS; secret planning of Com- 
mercial Treaty, 522 ; anne.'iation of Savoy 
and Nice by, 529; distrusted by Palmer- 
ston, 536. 

Nesselrode, letter to. from Lord Clarendon, 
67 ; pacific Note of, to Buol, 86; anecdote 
of 168; Esterhazy's Note to, on Austrian 
profiosal of peace, 274 

Newcastle, the Duke of, his ministerial ca- 
pacity, 189, 197; defends himself in House 
against Lord J. Russell, 203. 

" Newport," the case of, before Judicial 
Committee, 899. 

Normanby, Et. Hon. Marquis of, his " Tear 
of Revolution " taken up by Lord Brough- 
am, 399 ; book refuted, 400. 



OLMTJTZ, conference at, 79. 
Orloff, Count, mission of, to Vienna, 
113 ; his view of the war, at Paris, 294. 



PALMER, murderer of Cook, convicted, 
313. 
Palmerston, Rt. Hon. Viscount, popularity 
of, in the House of Commons, 3 ; position 
in the country, 13 ; foreign opinion of, 13 ; 
after Disraeli's Budget declines offer of the 
Admiralty, 19 ; agrees to join the Govern- 
ment, Home Oflice. 20; speech at Tiver- 
ton, 25 ; hatred of Russia, 48 ; more vigor- 
ous policy urged by, 63 : eager for war, 65; 
friendly relations of, with Clarendon, 67 ; 
attack of, on Cobden. 69 ; courted by To- 
ries, 71 ; goes to Balmoral, 75 ; views of, 
on declaration of war by Turkey, 80; laud- 
ed by Radicals and Tories, 81 ; anecdote 
of told by the Queen. 91 ; letter of to Rus- 
sell, denouncing reform, S2 ; threatens to 
secede from Government. 95 ; resigns on 
the Reform scheme, 96 ; effects of resigna- 
tion, 97 ; concihatory overtures to, 98 ; 
withdraws resi,o-nati6n, lii2; urges the 
marriage of Prince Napoleon to Princess 
Marv of Cambridge. 115; opposes Lord J. 
Russell's Reform Bill, 122 : amidst divis- 
ions of Cabinet offers to resign, 181 ; more 
in favor at Court, 190 : sent for by the 
Queen, forms a Government, 207; list of 
his Ministry, 208; his prospects, 208; 
speech in House, 210; difficulties of in 
forming Government, 216 ; and mistakes, 
217 ; bluster in the " Morning Post,'' 268 ; 
stringent terms proposed by, against Rus- 
sia, 264 ; defends Sunday bands, 813 ; his 
failing strength, 847; speech at Mansion 
House, 358 : popularity of, 359 ; Tiverton 
address, 360 ; his success in the House, 
867 ; his proposed Bill for dissolution of 
East India Company, 397: his decreasing 
energy, 411; resignation of 414: catastro- 
phe uniexpected. 417; amendments on In- 
dia Bill defeated. 449 ; visits Compi^gne 
with Lord Clarendon, 458; forms second 
Administration, 492; distrusts Napoleon, 
586; attack oi; on Neapolitan Minister, 
542. 



INDEX. 



553 



Palmerston, Lady, interview with, on resig- 
nation of her husband. 1)9. 

Parliament, meeting of (1854) : reception of 
the Queen ; defence of i'rince Albert by 
Lord J. Russell, 114; specially summoned 
in December, ls54, 1T5; meeting of. after 
peace, 2S3; close of session. 318; dissolved, 
856 ; meeting of, 36D ; opening of, 393 ; 
Session opens, 521. 

Peelites, attitude of, on Queen's Speech, C ; 
eagerness for office. 22 ; refuse to join Lord 
Palmerston's Government, 206; refuse to 
join Lord Derby 416, 41T. 

Peel, Sir Robert, lecture of, on the Czar's 
coronation, 337. 

Peerage, the Wen sley dale, debate on, 2S5. 

Pelissier, Marshal, Ambassador at London, 
429. 

Portsmouth, grand naval review at, 69. 

Princess Koyal, the marriage of. 408. 

Protection, abandonment of, by Lord Derby, 
6 ; his speech thereon, 6. 

Prussia. King of, private letter of, to Em- 
peror Nicholas, toward peace. 279 ; quarrel 
of, with Switzerland, as to sovereign rights, 
336. 



QUARTERLY REVIEW, the, article in 
by .Mr. Glad .stone, 437 ; editor of, on 
Tory Reform Bill, 457. 



RAD1C.\L party, the, approve of Lord J. 
Russells Reform Kill, and his course, 
124 ; hatred of, against Lord Aberdeen, 
146. 

Eagian, Lord, commander of forces at the 
Alma, 162; Balaklava, 166; anecdotes 
concerning, 166; despatch of, on battle of 
Inkerman, 172 ; annoyance of the Court at 
his failure, 193 ; his d'^ath in Crimea, 231 ; 
defence of, bv Sir E, Lyons. 306, 

Eeeve, Henry, Mr., return of, from Constanti- 
nople, 89, 

Reform. Royal Commission on, 26. 

Roebuck, .Mr. A., his motion for inquiry into 
Government conduct of war, 201; report 
of Sebastopol Committee, 224. 

Rogers, Mr. Samuel, the poet, de.atb of, 266. 

Rus.sell, Rt. Hon. Lord .lohn. willing to serve 
under Lord Lan.sdowne, 3; answer of. to 
letter from Cohden. 4; resolution to op- 
J>ose Ballot, 4 ; literary pursuits of, Mooro 
and Fo.x's papers, 5 : leaves Foreign Of- 
fice. -37 ; Anti-Catholic speech of, 58 ; res- 
ign.ation of Irish members thereon. 59 ; 
position of, at Eastern crisis. 72 ; desires 
to be Prime Minister, S3, f-4; obstacles in 
the way of, 84; conference on question of 
resigning. 84; scheme for Reform Bill, 
89; speech in defence of the Prince. 114; 
introduces his Reform Bill 119 : insists on 
his Reform Bill, 122; difficulties in the 
way of, 122 ; postpones the Bill, 123 ; 
attacked by Disraeli on Reform ques- 
tion, 124; \vithdr.aws his Reform Bill. 131 ; 
attack on, by Disraeli 140 ; opposes abo- 
lition of Church Kates, 144; convenes a 

24 



meeting of his supporters, 147 ; his views 
on the Ministry, 188; his visit to Paris, 
192; resignation ot, 198; speech there- 
upon, 200; speech against, by Mr. Glad- 
stone, 201 ; sent for by the Queen, fails to 
form a Government, 206; goes to Vienna 
as Plenipotentiary, 209 ; joins Palmerston's 
Government as Colonial Secretary, 213; 
indiscreet revelations of Vienna Conferr 
ence, 233 ; resignation, 235 ; estranged 
from his friends. 245, 247 ; elected for Lon- 
don, 360; friendly tone toward Govern- 
ment, 394; opposes Cons[iiracy Bill, 414; 
makes overtures to Lord Granville, 431 ; 
attacked by the '•Times" on India Bill, 
433; insists on taking Foreign Office un- 
der Palmerston, 494; French opinion of, 
509 ; introduces his Reform Bill, 528; 
speech of, against French alliance, 531 ; 
effect of his speech on the French, 535; 
correspondence w-ith Loid Grey, 539 ; with- 
drawal of his Reform Bill, 5J3. 

Russia, Emperor Nicholas of, impending war 
with, 55; indignation against, .''5; difficul- 
ties of, in Eastern crisis, &i; Enghsh and 
French fleets sail for Dardanelles. 59. 60; 
hopes of peace with, 64; war declared 
against, by Turkey, ^0; aims at forming 
Holy Alliance between himself, Austria, 
and" Prussia, 85; defeated bj' ManteufFel, 
85, 86 ; autograph letter of, to the Queen, 
91 ; Turkish fleet destroyed by, 96; enor- 
mous preparations of, for war, 107; asks 
for explanations from England, 112 ; secret 
corres])ondence with, published, 128 ; in- 
creased indignation of public against, 128 ; 
War declared against, 128; pretended ac- 
ceptance of the " Four Points," 192 ; death 
of, 215; Emperor Alexander II. refuses 
terms of Vienna, 223; fall of Sebastopol, 
247 ; ultimatum to, sent by Palmerston, 
265; accepts proposalsof peace, 279; coro- 
nation of Czar at .Moscow, 320. 

Rutland, Duke of, death of, 338. 



CT. ARN.\.IJD, Marshal reluctance of, to 

O engage in battle of Alma. 102. 

Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel. King of, vi.sit to 
Windsor with M. de Cavour, 261 ; his de- 
mands on the Allies, 262. 

Seebach, M. de, Saxon Minister in Paris, ac- 
tion of, as m<diat'>r. 272, 

Seymour. Sir Hamilton, delivery of Conven- 
tion to Ne-sehode. by, 67. 

Solferino, battle of, 496. 

Stafl'ord, Augustus, strictures of committee 
on. 54 : damaging to Lord Derby's Gov- 
ernment, 54, 55 : his mission to Constanti- 
nople in aid of the wounded, 178, 

Stanlev, Lord, declines Lord Palmerston's 
off'er of the Colonial Secretaryship. 254; 
succeeds Lord EUenboi-ough at the Board 
of t'ontrol, then takes Secretaryship of 
State for Indiii. 456. 

Stratford. Lord, his policy at Constantinople, 
69 : suspected by Lord Clarendon, 71 ; hos- 
tility of Emperor of Russia against him, 
76; influence of, disputed by Baraguay 



554 



INDEX. 



d'Hilliers, 91 ; his despatches praised, 117; 
regarded as cause of war, liil ; clamor 
against, for neglect of General "Williams, 
282. 
Sugden, Sir Edward, note upon, 17. 



TCHEENAYA, battle of a855), 245. 
Thouvenel, M,, despatches of, in re 
Savoy, 530. 
" Times," the, opposes the India Bill, 45 ; 
versatility of, on Eastern crisis, 63 ; letter 
in, defending Prince Albert, 112 ; on Lord 
J. Eussell's position, 144 ; on French rein- 
forcements, 175; attacks of, on Lord 
Eaglan, 189 ; " runs amuck " against aris- 
tocratic element in society, 211 ; hostility 
of toward Palmerston Government, 415; 
letter of French Emperor to King of Sar- 
dinia published in, 510; opposes French 
Commercial Treaty, 524; on Lord John's, 
Eeform Bill, 580. 



TICTOEIA, H. M. the Queen's Speech, 
diflSculties in composing, dissensions, 5 ; 



the Eoyal Family home life, 49 ; goes to 
Ireland, 71 ; comment of, on Lord Palm- 
erston, 87 ; reply of, to autograph letter 
from Emperor Nicholas, 91 ; annoyance 
ot, at attacks on the Prince, 113 ; speech 
of, on opening of Parliament, sends for 
Lord Derby, 202; for Palmerston, 207; 
visit of, to Paris, 244; pleased with the 
Emperor, 246 ; friendship of, for the Or- 
leans family, 249 ; visit of, to Birming- 
ham, 44S ; letter of. to the Prince of Wales, 
457. 



WALES, H. E. H. the Prince of, visit to 
Canada, 508. 

Walewski, Count, presides at Congress, 
Paris, 295. 

Wellington, Duke of, lying in state of, 
funeral of, 6; Disraeli's pompous pane- 
gyric on, 8. 

Windham, General Charles, his gallant con- 
duct at the Kedan, 250 ; letter from, 
250 ; his defeat at Cawnpore, 403. 

Wortley, Et. Hon. J. Stuart, .ippointed 
Solicitor-General, 330. 



THE EKD. 



D. APPLETON & 00/8 PUBLIOATIONS. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

THE HUNDRED GREATEST MEN. PORTRAITS OF THE 

ONE HUNDRED GREATEST MEN OF HISTORY. Reproduced 

from Fine and Rare Steel Engravings, with Biographies. 8vo. 

Cloth, $6.00. 

A General Introduction to the Work was written by Ra.lph Waldo Emerson; 
Introduction to Section I by Matthew Arnold ; Section II by H. Taine ; Sec- 
tion III by Max Muller and R. Renan : Section IV by Noah Porter ; Section 
V by A. P. Stanley; Section VI by H. Helmholtz; Section VII by J. A. 
Fboudb ; Section VIII by Professor John Fiske, 

HOURS WITH GREEK AND LATIN AUTHORS. From 
Various English Translations. With Biographical Notices. By G. 
H. Jennings and W. S. Johnstone. 12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 

LIFE OF HIS ROYAIi HIGHNESS THE PRINCE 

CONSORT. By Sir Theodore Martin, With Portraits and 

Views. Complete in 5 vols. 12mo. Cloth, $10.00. 

"The literature of England is richer by a book which will be read with profit 
■by succeeding generations of her sons and daughters." — Blackwood. 

BEACONSFIELD. A SKETCH OF THE LITERARY AND 
POLITICAL CAREER OF BENJAMIN DISRAELI (Earl of 
Beaconsfield). With Two Portraits. By George M. Towle. 18mo. 
Paper, 25 cents ; cloth, 60 cents. 

LIFE OF CHARLOTTEJBRONTE. By E. C. Gaskell. With 

Engravings. Two volumes in one. 12rao. Cloth, $1.50. 

Charlotte Bronte was one of the most extraordinary female characters of 
modern times. From perfect obscurity, and notwithstanding a most unpropi- 
tious training, she sprang at one bound to the heitrht of popularity, founded an 
entirely new school of novel-writing, and, after a life of severe trial and suffer- 
ing, died when she was just beginning to be happy. 

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THOMAS HENRY BUCKLE. 

By Alfred Henry Huth. 12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 

"The book deals with Mr. Buckle less as a philosopher than as a man. . . . 
Mr. Huth has done his part well and thoroughly." — Saturday Review. 

THOMAS CARLYLE: HIS LIFE— HIS BOOKS— HIS THE- 
ORIES. By Alfred H. GuERNSEr. 18mo. Paper, 30 cents; 
Cloth, 60 cents. 



New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



D. APPLETON & CO/S PUBLICATIONS 



BIOGRAPHY. 

ERASMUiS DARWIN. By Ernst Kratjs. Translated from tbe 
German by W. S. Dallas. With a Preliminary Notice by Charles 
Darwin. With Portraits and Woodcuts. 12mo. Cloth, $1.25. 

CHARIiES DARWIN, By Grant Allen. (English Worthies 
Series.) 16mo. Cloth, 75 cents. 

LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS. By John Fokster. The con- 
cluding volume of Chapman & Hall's Household Edition of the 
Works of Charles Dickens. With 40 Hlustrations, Square 8vo. 
Paper, $1.25 ; cloth, $1.75. 

SHORT LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS. With Selections 
from his Letters. By Charles H. Jones. 18mo. Paper, 35 cents ; 
cloth, 60 cents. 

FARADAY AS A DISCOVERER. A Memoir. By Professor 
John Tyndall. 12mo, Cloth, $1.00. 

" It has been thought desirable to give you and the world Bome image of 
Michael Faraday as a scientific investigator and discoverer. ... I have returned 
from my task with such results as I could gather, and also with the wish that 
these results were more worthy than they are of the greatness of my theme." — 
The Author. 

SHORT LIFE OF GLADSTONE. By C. H. Jones. ISmo. 
Paper, 35 cents ; cloth, 60 cents. 

"In two hundred and fifty pages, the author lias succeeded in giving a clear 
impression of Gladstone's career, and, what is better still, of his personality. 
Extracts from his speeches and estimates of his literary work are given, and an 
excellent feature of the book is its short but significant citations from the press, 
which help the reader to see the srreat statesman tlu-ough the eyes of his con- 
temporaries, both friend and toe.''''— Boston Courier. 

A JOURNAL OF THE REIGNS OF KING GEORGE IV 
AND KING WILLIAM IV. By the late Charles C. F. 
Greville, Esq., Clerk of the Council to those Sovereigns. Edited 
by Henry Reeve, Registrar of the Privy Council. 2 vols. • 12mo.' 
Cloth, $4.00. 

" Since the publication of Horace "Walpole's Letters, no book of greater 
historical interest has seen the light than the Greville Memoir*'. It throws a 
curious, and, we may almost say, a terrible light on the conduct and character of 
the public men in England under the reigns "of George IV and William IV. Its 
descriptions of those kings and their kinsfolk are never likely to be forgotten." 
— New York Times. 



New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



D. APPLETON & CO/S PUBLICATIONS. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

A JOURNAI. OF THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. 

(Second Part of "The Greville Memoirs.") From ISS'J to 1852. 

By the late Charles Greville, Clerk of the Council. 2 vols. 

Large 12mo. Cloth, $4.00. 

"Mr. Greville's Diary la one of the most important contribntions which have 
ever been made to the political history of the middle of the nineteenth century. 
He is a g;raphic and powerful writer; and his usual habit of making the record 
while the impression of the events was fresh upon his mind gives his sketches 
of persons and places, and his accounts of conversations, great vividness. The 
volumes will be read with as much interest for their sketches of social life as for 
their political value."— iowdow Daily News. 

RETROSPECT OF A LONG LIFE, FROM 1815 TO 1883. 
By S. C. Hall, F. S. A. With Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall. 
Crown 8vo. Cloth, $2.50. 

MEMOIR AND CORRESPONDENCE OF CAROLINE 
HERSCHEL (Sister of Sir William, and Aunt of Sir John 
Herschel). By Mrs. John Herschel. 12mo. Illustrated with 
Portraits. Cloth, $1.75. 

RECOLLECTIONS OF PAST LIFE. REMINISCENCES OF 

MEN, MANNERS, AND THINGS. By Sir Henry Holland, Bart. 

12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 

" A life extending over such a period, and passed in the most active manner, 
in the midst of the best society which the world has to offer, must necessarily be 
full of singular interest; and Sir Henry Holland has fortunately not waited until 
his memory lost its freslinees before recalling some of the incidents to it." — New 
York Tiines. 

LIFE OF SAMUEL LOVER. ARTISTIC, LITERARY, AND 
MUSICAL. With Selections from his Unpublished Papers and Cor- 
respondence, with Portrait. By Bayle Bernard. 12mo. Cloth, 
$2.00. 

STRAY MOMENTS WITH THACKERAY: HIS HUMOR, 
SATIRE, AND CHARACTERS. Being Selections from his Writ- 
ings, prefaced with a Few Biographical Notes. By William H, 
KiDEiNG, 18mo. Paper, 30 cents ; cloth, 60 cents. 



New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



D. APPLETON & C0.'8 PUBLI0ATI0N8. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

LORD MACAULAY : HIS LIFE— IIIS WKITINGS. By C. H. 

JONES. 18mo. Paper, 30 cents; cloth, 60 cents. 

LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R. N. By Florence 
Marryat. 2 vols. 12mo. Cloth, $4.00. 

RUSKIN ON PAINTING. With a Biographical Sketch. 18mo. 
Paper, 30 cents ; cloth, 60 cents. 

WILKES, SHERIDAN, FOX. THE OPPOSITION UNDER 
GEORGE III. By W. F. Rae. 12mo.. Cloth, |2.00. 

" Ad interesting, a truthful, and a wholesome 'book." — London Athenceum. 

" A book which embraces vigorous sketches of three famous men like John 
"Wilkes, Richard Brinsloy Sheridan, and Charles James Fox, is truly worth hav- 
ing. The author is in evident sympathy with all three of his subjects."— C^icag'O 
Tribune. 

LIGHTS OF THE OLD ENGLISH STAGE. BIOGRAPH- 
ICAL AND ANECDOTICAL SKETCHES OF FAMOUS ACTORS 
OF THE OLD ENGLISH STAGE. 18mo. Paper, 30 cents. 

" The book treats of Richard Burbage and other ' originals ' of Shakespeare's 
characters, the Cibbers, Garrick, Cliarles Macklin, 'Peg' Wofflngton and George 
Anne Bellamy, John Kemble and Mrs. Siddous. Cooke, Edmund Kean, Charles 
Young, Dora Jordan, and Mrs. Robinson. A more interesting group of persons 
it would be hard to find." — New York World. 

ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE: THEIR NATURE AND 
NURTURE. By Francis Galton, F. R. S. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00. 

McCLELLAN'S LAST SERVICE TO THE REPUBLIC, 

TOGETHER WITH A TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMORY. By George 
TiCKNOR Curtis. With a Map showing Position of Union and Con- 
federate Forces on the Night of November '7, 1862. 12mo. Paper 
cover, 30 cents. 

LIFE OF BANIEL WEBSTER. By George T. Curtis. Illus- 
trated with Steel Portrait and Woodcuts. 2 vols. 8vo. Cloth, 
$4.00; sheep, $6.00; half morocco, $10.00. 

A most valuable and important contribution to the history of American parties 
and politics, and to the best class of our literature. It is a model biography of a 
most gifted man, wherein the intermingling of the statesman and lawyer with 
the husband, father, and friend, is painted so that we feel the reality of the 
picture. 



New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

THE LAST YEARS OF DANIEL WEBSTER, A MONO- 

GRAPII. By George T. Curtis. 8vo. Paper, 60 cents. 

REPRESENTATIVE NAMES IN ENGLISH LITERA- 
TURE. By II. n. Morgan. 8vo. Cloth, $1.00. 

THE NOVELS AND NOVELISTS OF THE EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY, IN ILLUSTRATION OF THE MANNERS AND 

MORALS OF THE AGE. By W. Forsyth. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50, 

LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF SALMON PORT- 
LAND CHASE. By J. W. Schuckers. Illustrated. 8vo. 
Cloth, $5.00; sheep, $6.00; half morocco, $7.50. 

MEMOIRS OF GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN. New edition, 
revised, and with Additions. With numerous Maps and Portraits. 

2 vols., Svo. Cloth, $5.00. 

This edition of General Sherman's memoirs has been thoroughly revised, and 
contains two new chapters and important appendices. Fifteen reaps and sev- 
eral portraits, not given in the first edition, enrich the present issue. The por- 
traits consist of engravings on steel of Generals Sherman, Thomas, Schofleld, 
and McPherson, and a phototype group of corps commanders. The new chapter 
at the end of the work, entitled " After the War," throws light on recent contro- 
versies in regard to President Johnson's purpose in wishing to send General 
Grant to Mexico. The appendices contain numerous letters from army com- 
mauders bearing upon events of the war. 

THE LIFE OF DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT, FIRST 

ADMIRAL OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY, EMBODYING 

HIS JOURNAL AND LETTERS. By his Son, Loyall Farragut. 

With Portraits, Maps, and Illustrations. Svo. Cloth, $4.00 ; sheep, 

$5.00 ; half morocco, $6.00. 

" The book is a stirring one, of course ; the story of Farragut's life is a tale 
of adventure of the most ravishing sort, so that, aside from the value of this 
work as an authentic biograpliy of the greatest of American naval commanders, 
the book is one of surpassing interest, considered merely as a narrative of diffi- 
cult and dangerous enterprises and heroic achievements." — New York Evening 
Post. 

FARTHEST NORTH; Or, THE LIFE AND EXPLORATIONS 
OF LIEUTENANT JAMES BOOTH LOCKWOOD, OF THE 
GREELY ARCTIC EXPEDITION. With Portrait, Map, and Illus- 
trations. By Charles Lanman. Small 12mo. Cloth, $1.25. 



New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



D. APPLETON & 00/8 PUBLICATIONS, 



BIOGRAPHY. 

lilFE OF GENERAL ROBERT E. IiEE. By John Esten 
Cooke. Illustrated with Portraits on Steel, Maps, and Wood En- 
gravings. 8vo. Cloth, extra, $5.00; sheep, $6.00. 

A BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, 

WITH EXTRACTS FEOM HIS PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 

By Parke Godwin. With Two Portraits on Steel — one from a 

Painting by Morse, taken in 1825, and one from a Photograph, 

taken in 18 7 3. 2 vols. Square 8vo. (Uniform with Memorial 

Editions of Prose Writings and Poetical Works.) Cloth, gilt top, 

$6.00. 

Containing a full account, from authentic sources, of the poet's ancestry; of 
his boyhood among the Hampshire hills ; of his early poems ; of his ten years' 
life as a country lawyer; of his lon» editorial career in New York; of his inter- 
course with contemporaries ; of his travels abroad and at home ; of the origin of 
many of his poems ; of his political opinions ; of his speeches and addresses ; 
and of the honors he received. 

RALPH WALDO EMERSON: POET AND PHILOSOPHER. 
By A. H. Guernsey. (Published by arrangement with Messrs. 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers of the complete editions of 
Emerson's Works.) A companion volume to " Carlyle : his Life, his 
Books, his Theories." ISmo. Paper, 40 cents ; cloth, 75 cents. 

THE STORY OF MY LIFE. By the late J. Marion Sims, M.D. 
Edited by his Son, H. Marion Sims, M. D. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. 

Under the simple title of "The Story of my Life" Dr. Sims has in the most 
fitting terms narrated the origin and growth of those achievements in surgery 
which ^y the general judgment of enlightened men have stamjied him as the 
benefactor of his race. The account of Dr. Sims's early struggle is of the deep- 
est interest. 

LIFE AND LETTERS OF FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. 

Edited by James Grant Wilson. Two Steel Engravings. Uniform 
with Halleck's Poems. 12mo. Cloth, gilt top, $2.50; half calf, 
extra, $4.50 ; morocco, $6.00. 

The Same. Large-paper Edition. Illustrated. Cloth, $10.00; morocco 
antique, $15. 



New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS, 



BIOGRAPHY. 

ESSAYS AND SPEECHES OF JEREMIAH S. BLACK. 

WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. By Chauncev F. Black. 
With a Portrait on Steel. 8vo. Cloth, $3.75. 

LIFE AND LETTERS OF EMORY UPTON, COLONEL 
OF THE FOURTH REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY, AND BREVET 
MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. ARMY. By Peter S. Miciiie, Professor 
U. S. Military Academy. With an Introduction by James Harkison 
Wilson, late U. S. A. With Portraits. 8vo. Cloth, $2.00. 

" The subject of the following memoir was widely known by reputation in the 
military prolession, and the story of his life would, at least to military men, have 
been a matter of passing interest. The tragic circumstances of his death seemed 
to demand some explanation in harmony with his established reputation and 
character. At the earnest solicitation of his nearest relatives, the author, al- 
though conscious of his own deficiencies, undertook the task of compiling a 
brief record of General Upton's life for hie family and immediate personal 
friends."— .From Pr^'ace. 

LIFE AND LETTERS OF THOMAS GOLD APPLE- 
TON. Prepared by Susan Hale. With a Portrait. 12ino. 
Cloth, gilt top, $1.75. 

Mr. T. G. Appleton, it is needless to say, was well known in social and literary 
circles in Europe and America, and dit^tinguished as one of the best conversa- 
tionalists of the day. The present work consists of a biographical sketch, selec- 
tions from his letters, and some account of his different jourueys. 

LOUIS PASTEUR : HIS LIFE AND LABORS. By his Son-in- 
Law. Translated from the French by Lady Claud Hamilton. 
With an Introduction by Professor Tyndall. 12mo. Cloth, $1.25. 

"Since the first studies of M. Pasteur on molecular dissymmetry, down to 
his most recent investigations on hydrophobia, on virulent diseases, and on the 
artificial cultures of living contagia, the author of these pages has been able, if 
not to witness all, at least to follow in its principal developments, this uninter- 
rupted series of scientific conquests."— T^rowj t?ie Preface. 

" A record in which the verities of science are endowed with the interest of 
romance." — Professor Ttndall. 

MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON: HIS COURT AND FAMILY. By 

the Duchess d'Abrantes (Madame Junot). 2 vols. 12mo. Cloth, 
$3.00. 

This book supplies many valuable and interesting details respectin" the 
Court and Family of Napoleon, which are found in no other work. The autbor's 
opportunities for observation were excellent and long continued, and she has 
availed herself of them so efl'ectually as to present us with a very lively, enter- 
taining, and readable book, as well as to supply important materials for future 
historians and biographers. 



New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



D. APPLETON & CO/S PUBLI0ATI0N8. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE REMUSAT. 1802-1808. 
Edited by her Grandson, Paul de Remusat, Senator. In 8 vols., 
paper covers, 8vo, $1.50; also, in 1 vol., cloth, 12nio, $2.00; half 
calf, $3.50. 

"These memoirs are rot only a repository of anecdotes and of portraits 
sketched from life by a keen-eyed, quick-witted woman; but some of the au- 
thor's reflections on social and political questions are remarkable for weight and 
penetration." — New York Sun. 

"Madame de Kemusat's keenness of intelligence, and her intimacy with 
Josephine, to which she was not only admitted but welcomed, gave her those ex- 
traordinary opportunities which she has turned to so good account in these 
' Memoirs.' The work, as a whole, is at once the most interesting and the most 
damaging commentary on the character of Napoleon that has ever been pro- 
duced."— Z>r. C. K. AdaTns's Manual of Historical Literature. 

A SELECTION FROM THE LETTERS OF MADAME 
DE REMUSAT. 1804-1814. Edited by her Grandson, Paul 
DE Remusat, Senator. Uniform with " Memoirs of Madame de 
Remusat," 1802-1808. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25. 

" ' A Selection from the Letters of Madame de Remusat to her Husband and 
Son ' has been published by the Appletons. Coming closely upon the fascinating 
memoirs of that lady, they possess the same interest, and will add to the reader's 
knowledge of social and political life in France in the days of the first Napoleon." 
—Boston Evening Transcript. 

VOLTAIRE. By John Morlet. 12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 

COiVT^iVr-S'.— Preliminary ; English Influences ; Literature; Berlin; Relig- 
ion; History; Ferney. 

FRENCH MEN OF LETTERS. Personal and Anecdotical 
Sketches of Victor Hugo, Alfred de Musset, Theophile Gautier, 
Henri Murger, Sainte-Beuve, Gerard de Nerval, Alexandre Dumas, 
fils, Emile Augier, Octave Feuillet, Victorien Sardou, Alphonse 
Daudet, and Emile Zola. By Maukice Mauris. Paper, 35 cents, 
cloth, 60 cents. 

HISTORY OF GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD'S 
PUBLIC LIFE. (The Republican Text-Book for the Campaign 
of 1880.) By B. A. Hinsdale, A. M., President of Hiram College. 
8vo. Paper, 50 cents. 

LIFE OF WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK, MAJOR-GEN- 
ERAL UNITED STATES ARMY. By Rev. D. X. Junkin, D. D., 

and Frank H. Norton. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. 



New York: D. APPLETON k CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street 



D. APPLETON & 00/S PUBLICATIONS. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THEODORE 

PARKER, MINISTER OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH CON- 
GREGATIONAL SOCIETY, BOSTON. By John Weiss. Portrait 
and Engravings. 2 large vols. 8vo. Cloth, $4.00; half calf, 
extra, $8.00. 

THE LIFE, CORRESPONDENCE, AND WRITINGS OF 
ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. By John R. G. Hassard. Svo. 
Morocco, $4.60. 

LETTERS OF LIFE. By Mrs. L. II. Sigournet. 12mo. Cloth, 
$1.50; half calf, extra, $4.00. 

LITERATURE I.\ LETTERS; OR, MANNERS, ART, CRITI- 
CISM, BIOGRAPHY, HISTORY, AND MORALS ILLUSTRATED 
IN THE CORRESPONDENCE OF EMINENT PERSONS. Edited 
by James P. Holcombe, LL. D. 12mo. Cloth, $2.00; half calf, 

$4.50. 

"The Bources of pleasure and instruction to be found in the private cor- 
respondence of eminent perisone have never been fully explained ; much less 
have they been rendered accessible to the bulk of the reading public. Our lan- 
friiage abounds in letters which contain the most vivid pictures of manners, and 
the most faithful and striking delineations of character, which are full of wit, 
wisdom, fancy, useful knowledge, noble and pious sentiment." — Extract from 
Preface. 

JOHN KEESE, WIT AND LITTERATEUR, A BIO 

GRAPHICAL MEMOIR. By William L. Keese. Small 4to. 
Cloth, gilt top, $1.25. 

John Keese was a popular book-auctioneer of New York thirty years ago, 
whose witticisms were tlie town talk. "If John Keese sliould quit the auc- 
tioneer business, I should die of ennuW^ exclaimed one of his admirers. Mr. 
Keese was known to all the literary people of his day, and these memoirs con- 
tain reminiscences and anecdotes of literary circles in New York a generation 
ago that will be valued by those who like glances at past local conditions. 

LIFE OF JAMES W. GRIxHES. By W. Salter. Svo. Cloth, 
$3.50. 

LIFE OF EDWARD LIVINGSTON. By C. H. Hunt. With 
an Introduction by George Bancroft. Portrait. Svo. Cloth, 

$4.00. 



New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

THE LIFE OF SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, INVENTOR OF 
THE RECORDING TELEGRAPH. By S. I. Prime. Illustrated 
with Steel Plates and Wood Engravings. 8vo. Cloth, $5.00; 
sheep, $6.00; half morocco, $7.50; morocco, $10.00. 

LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD. By John Lord, LL. D. With 
two Portraits on Steel. 12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 

RECOLLECTIONS AND OPINIONS OF AN OLD PI- 
ONEER. By P. H. Burnett, First Governor of the State of 
California. 12mo. Cloth, $1.75. 

Mr. Burnett's life has been full of varied experience, and the record talies the 
reader back prior to the discovery of gold in California, and leads him through 
many adventures and incidents to the time of the beginning of the late war. 

" I have been a pioneer most of my life ; whenever, since my arrival in Cali- 
fornia, I have seen a party of immigrants, with their ox-teams and white-sheeted 
wagons, I have been excited, have felt younger, and was for the moment anxious 
to make another trip." — The Author. 

LIFE OF JOHN RANDOLPH, OF ROANOKE. By 

Hugh H. Garland. Portraits. Two volumes in one. 8vo. Cloth, 

$2.00. 

ELIIIU BURRITT : A MEMORIAL VOLUME, CONTAINING A 

SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND LABORS. With Selections from 
his Writings and Lectures, and Extracts from his Private Journals 
in Europe and America. Edited by Charles Northend, A. M. 
12mo. Cloth, $1 75. 

THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF DR. LEWIS 
F. LINN. FOR TEN YEARS A SENATOR OF THE UNITED 
STATES FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI. By E. A. Linn and 
N. Sargent. With Portrait. 8vo. Cloth, $2.00. 

OUTLINE OF THE PUBLIC LIFE AND SERVICES 

OF THOMAS F. BAYARD, SENATOR OF THE UNITED 

STATES FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE, 1869-18S0. 
With Extracts from his Speeches and the Debates of Congress. By 
Edward Spencer. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00. 



New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 



^^ N 



TS' t- .- -;;. ■-■ ^ 



.>^ s-^/. 



:x^^' : ^\ 



,i?=J 












o^ -^^. 






^% '^^ 












V s 






c> <> 






■ts *' 



-0- X 



\ 



i> -^c^. 






,0 o. 









^^. ,x\^ 



'•— -J' 



''%k^~^''j5;f« "^ -,\'' 



^ " . % ' 



^x.^ ^ 












V c^^^ 



■-X 









y V 




\0 o 






o 



% 






.^-^ %. ^. 



'b^ * 3 I A " ^X- 



y s' 






'^..^ 



.#"%'.lC.t:.- .>'%. ^^'W^*^ .-^^^'"-- 



bX:::-^x" .^ 




-^ <i^- 






((\ 5 



.\^ 



■<^, 




>c>^^". % ' 






5 ■'■O. - w 






4- 











«^^ * 






V ^, 






-•«• 



,^^" ''^ 



,\\ 



sO O 















- 


^o^^'^. 





O^ 






.,^^ 






.0 



s''''^. 






.-^^ 






< ^-^-^ -^^ o.c„%,''^^-^^ ,V- < 



■0^ •.■ 






o5 c. ^ 



^ 



^O'^'x. 



^ ,0' 



%'"" J 






0^ ^ ^ • A _ o 






V v^ 






* . <? 



.0^ 



.0 0. 






^^^.^^ '■■"' 


.'vsftv. 


'^X ^'^"' 






s\V •^. 




./^ 


/^^- 









%.<^ 

.^^% 






o » i 






x'^' 



,•?> '''^-. ', 









'a^^ 









.^^^ 






•>^ a'' 



